


Rock On

by Brazendale



Category: Southern Vampire Mysteries - Charlaine Harris, True Blood
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-20
Updated: 2013-06-29
Packaged: 2017-12-08 23:35:30
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 37
Words: 59,324
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/767396
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Brazendale/pseuds/Brazendale
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It is 1980. A new decade has begun. The disco scene with it's spandex, satin and glitter is coming to an end.</p><p>New Wave, Punk and New Romantic is about to burst onto the scene and make its mark.</p><p>Bill Compton is right in the heart of the new emerging scene in London, embracing the times and doing the best that he can to reinvent himself and move towards the future in another new chapter of his life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own the character of Bill Compton but have merely borrowed him for a short journey. Kudos go to C Harris, A Ball and HBO.  
> Other incidental characters are of my own making.  
> No copyright infringement is intended.

                                                                

 

 

‘So where did you hear about this place?’ Gloria asked Derrick as the three of them trudged down the dark narrow street in the biting cold. ‘I didn’t hear about it. I told you. The other night when you were are Kylie’s I had been to Tony’s to look at that article he is writing on the death of the disco scene and it started bucketing down. I cut through here thinking it would be quicker and happened to be passing the place and heard the music. I thought that I would duck in and grab a quick drink and wait for the rain to stop and that’s when I saw him.’ Cherie’s only comment to Derrick was that it had better be worth being dragged out on a night like this when she could have been at home watching Kenny Everett. ‘Oh trust me, you are not going to regret the effort.’

She looked at him doubtfully having been subjected to his enthusiastic discoveries on previous occasions, none of which had been what she considered anything to write home about or to put into the magazine that they all worked for. It was one of those fledgling pop magazines with photography, fashion and all the happening scene events and gossip that had sprung up in the seventies after the end of the swinging London scene of the sixties that had died at Altamont. Flower power had given way to a different genre, glam rock had come and gone and now disco was hovering on its death bed on life support, barely clinging to life by the skin of its teeth. There was a new age born at the turn of the decade and if the discos of the seventies were to survive then they had best start adapting or face the darkness.

Punk, new wave, new romantic and everything in between had been embraced and there was no going back.

‘So what’s this guy like then, what’s his thing?’ Cherie was determined to at least have pre warning of how boring her night was going to be. ‘He’s great, he is amazing. There is something about him that I can’t put my finger on but once you have seen him and heard him I promise you, you won’t forget him.’ Gloria broke in at that point snorting, ‘Well you must have been impressed judging by the time that you dragged in, and on a week night.’ Derrick looked embarrassed. ‘I know, I am still buggered two days later. It’s funny but time just seemed to get away from me, one minute I was sitting watching the band then,’ he shook his head as he went on, ‘the next I was nearly home and it was really late. You know I think I need some vitamins or something.’

The two girls looked at him astonished. ‘Vitamins?’ Gloria questioned, ‘since when did you get all health conscious?’ she asked. ‘I don’t know’ Derrick replied puzzled, ‘I’ve lately been thinking that I should start taking a bit more care of myself.’ She was really studying his face now as he was lost in thought. ‘And besides’ he turned and grinned, ‘you don’t want me running out of energy do you?’ He grabbed her around the waist and planted a wet tongue kiss half way down her throat. ‘Well in that case’ she laughed, ‘I will be going to Boots first thing in the morning and stocking up.’

Walking a little further on, Derrick turned to the right and headed down a dimly lit graffiti covered laneway. ‘Come on, it’s down here.’ He stood and waited for the two girls reach him. Cherie was dragging her feet and turning up her nose as it was assaulted by the distinct smells of urine, vomit and rotting garbage. ‘This had so better be worth it,’ she was muttering under her breath, trying to breathe through her mouth instead of her nose so she wouldn’t have to put up with the stink.

A thin red light barely shining enough to illuminate the cryptic miniscule sign simply stating Club 666 was the only ounce of colour amongst the drab backdrop of dark shadows. The only other light was at the far distant end of the laneway some blocks away. From where they were it seemed to be a long way away and there was something a little eerie about the little patch of light so far off. A shiver ran through Cherie. ‘Come on then, let’s get this over with, it is perishing out here.’

They plunged into a tiny doorway and down the steep flight of steps into the underground basement of what must have been a busy warehouse in its day. Now it was a sad derelict, standing forlornly abandoned apart from the cellar with its club venue. To an onlooker it would be considered prime real estate, a hulking wreck to be demolished and perhaps a new architecturally designed office tower to replace it, yes a gold mine and to its owner, that is exactly how it was too. It had been an astute buy, one requiring vision and acumen but then that was typical of the owner and only one of many properties that had been purchased in another time, for after all, he had plenty of it….time that is.

At the bottom of the narrow stairs another small doorway led into a cavernous space. Stepping in the girls were surprised when they saw the décor. Given the surrounds of the place they had been expecting dingy grunge at best but it was far from it. The ceiling was painted a deep charcoal but the walls were all painted a vivid red with various prints of abstract pieces spotlighted. The stage stood dead in front of them but instead of the customary banquets around the walls with the centre of the room left bare for the crowd to pack into, there were tables and chairs and the whole place seemed much classier than they had expected. They turned and looked at Derrick with raised eyebrows. This was definitely out there and nothing like the normal clubs that they frequented.

Derrick laughed at their faces. ‘Told you. He is different and this place is different. You have to admit there is something really …I don’t know, it’s just got a different atmosphere hasn’t it. Come on, let’s grab a table, I want to be up the front.’ He was saying this as he led them around the clusters of tables and chairs to where there was one free right at the middle of the front with only the small roped off dance floor separating them from the stage. Once they had sat down Cherie looked around. ‘So where is your fantastic act then?’ She was determined not to enjoy herself. She hadn’t wanted to come and she was regretting that she had. Why she had agreed she didn’t know but seeing they were here she wanted to get it over and done with and get out of there and home to bed.

Derrick looked at his watch. ‘We’re early. They won’t be long, and besides I want to get a drink and settle in a bit. What do you two want, drinks are on me?’ While he was gone Gloria and unable to stop herself and she had a go at her housemate. She was getting annoyed with her negativity and really wanted her to ease up.

‘Ok, so what’s up then? I know that it’s more than just coming out tonight so you might as well tell me.’ Cherie sighed. ‘I’m sorry, does it show that much?’ Gloria nodded and waited. ‘I saw him again, and he was with that cow.’ Gloria reached out and patted Cherie’s hand. ‘I’m sorry. I know that it must kill you. Did they have the baby with them?’ Cherie shook her head, ‘No thank god that would be the end of me if they had. I still can’t believe it, that he fell for it, for her ….it’s not even his kid and to make it worse, he looks so sodding miserable.’ She looked away as her eyes blurred. ‘He was a fuckwit honey, it’s his loss you know that don’t you. Sweetie he cheated on you, just remember that and remember that you can do so much better. There is someone out there and one of these days you are going to find him, trust me. And he won’t be an ass either.’

Derrick came back at that moment and bought them their drinks. ‘Cheers’ he said. ‘Derrick, I am sorry I have been such a bitch. Just ignore me alright. I … I’ve just had a really bad day.’ Cherie was looking regretfully at Derrick. ‘Ok kid no worries.’ As he was saying this the lights were dimmed and the stage darkened. As if by some conjurors trick a single cord struck and a spotlight hit the most amazing man the girls had ever seen.


	2. Chapter 2

                               

 

As if by some conjurors trick a single cord struck and a spotlight hit the most amazing man the girls had ever seen......

 

He was dressed in some kind of red regimental jacket, the kind that you see in an old masters painting of a Napoleonic battlefield, his white deeply ruffled shirt open to his waist exposing a flat muscular chest covered in soft downy looking dark hair that trailed down into the waistband of tightly fitting black leather pants. A wide belt and shiny brass buckle sat seductively on his hips, drawing every female’s eye that saw him to a crotch that seemed to be abundantly proportioned.

White make-up accentuated the kohl blackened eyes that even from the distance of about ten feet away from where they were sitting, they could see that they were vivid blue. No contacts here, this was the real thing. He wore his hair long at the back, softly curling around his ears with the crown spiked up come punk like, but with more style and panache. They had never seen anything or anyone like him.

He looks like a cross between that famous Jim Morrison young lion poster and maybe David Essex - Cherie thought as her eyes ran over him, skimming down his body. She shivered. She hadn’t been with anyone since her creep of an ex had split and that was a while ago now and even though it still hurt like crazy, she must be getting over it more than she had thought judging by the reaction her body was having just looking at him.

Derrick turned to look at the girl’s faces and sniggered to himself. He knew that they would be as gobsmacked as he had been and they hadn’t even heard him singing yet. Gloria looked across at Cherie but she wasn’t looking at her, her eyes were glued to the god that was there in front of her on the stage. She just sat there open mouthed staring and then when the music started in earnest she was totally blown away if that was possible.

She didn’t move a muscle from the first note that he sang until the lights came up slightly and the band took a break. ‘Well, what did I tell you then? Was I right or was I right?’ Derrick was saying smugly as he turned and looked from Gloria’s face to Cherie. She had finally snapped out of her trance more or less and was staring at Gloria. The two of them were mouthing things to each other like ‘hot,’ ‘I’ve died and gone to heaven’ and ‘oh god yes please, I want to eat that with a spoon’ both laughing, but Gloria had the distinct impression that while she was only kidding around, Cherie wasn’t. She couldn’t blame her though, he was stunning.

‘Bloody hell, when you said he was good I didn’t believe you but Derrick he is more than good, why he is sensational. What did you say his name is?’ Gloria asked.  
‘Bill, my name is Bill and you would be Gloria right then luv?’ They all turned and found the singer standing next to the side of the table. He had left the stage and come over, moving silently, to stand next to them. ‘Derrick mate, good to see you again. Didn’t think that you would bother to come tonight when you were only here the other night mate but glad that you could make it then. I take it this is your better half Gloria. How are you love, Derrick told me all about you the other night?’ He gave Gloria a small smile then turned to Cherie. ‘So Derrick aren’t you going to introduce me then mate?’

The Adonis was standing looking down at Cherie. Her eyes met his and for a moment she thought that she couldn’t breathe. He smiled gently at her, the smile reaching to his eyes as he gazed at her. ‘Bill this is Cherie, she works with Gloria and I at the magazine and we all share a house. Or well I should say we have the upstairs and Cherie is down in the basement.’ Gloria piped up, ‘You might call it a basement, I call it a dungeon what with only one window in that pokey little kitchen at the back and all the other rooms in darkness.’ Bill appeared not to be listening, his focus gave the impression that he only had eyes for Cherie. Taking her wrist with one of his hands he raised her hand with his other and brushed his cool lips across her finger tips and semi bowed. ‘Nice to meet you then Cherie,’ he grinned, holding on to her wrist a little longer than was necessary. She tingled all over and he smiled again, searching her eyes with a look that penetrated through her.

‘You were fantastic. Can I get you a drink mate?’ Derrick said enthusiastically, ‘take a seat. Cherie, move over I am sure that Bill won’t mind sharing will you Bill?’ Cherie blushed but moved over to the side of the chair as Bill sat down and wrapped his arm over the back and around her shoulder presumably to keep his balance on the seat although to Gloria, it was one really smooth deliberate move. Cherie wriggled a little closer to keep herself from falling off. She could smell his scent; he smelt musky and sweaty and had some kind of after shave on that sent her hormones spinning.

‘Ta mate but don’t drink, don’t smoke either for that matter,’ as Derrick had leaned across to offer him a packet of cigarettes. Derrick laughed, ‘Mate they’re not your standard tailor-mades,’ he said flipping the top to revel six rolled joints. ‘Ta mate but have to watch my throat, been a bit rough lately and really need to watch it a bit. Anyway, I best get back, break’s nearly over now but thought I’d just come over and say hello,’ he smiled as he reluctantly stood up. His eyes strayed again to Cherie as she looked up then looked away again, trying not to stare and trying hard to look cool, but it was pretty difficult not to look at him. Derrick was right; he had a presence that swept you up. There was something about him.

‘Say, are you doing anything after the show? Fancy coming back to our place then for a chat?’ Derrick asked eagerly. Bill turned to Cherie and she smiled timidly at him. He smiled back. ‘I would love to, that’s if it’s not putting you out too much?’ He looked back at Gloria and Derrick. ‘We don’t have to be at work tomorrow, the office is shut, bank holiday and all that so … that’s settled then.’ ‘Right’ Bill nodded, ‘just hang about after the show while I get changed and let them know that you are waiting for me. Will meet you here, and ta for the invite then.’

As he walked away Derrick and Gloria both looked across at Cherie. ‘He fancies you then Cherie,’ Derrick smirked. ‘Don’t be an arse Derrick, he was just being polite,’ she snapped. Her heart was racing just at the thought of it and she was trying hard to keep her calm in front of them but she was really flipping out over Bill. Gloria shook her head. ‘No he wasn’t, he does you know. He fancies you something shocking. He was practically all over you.’ Cherie went crimson and only the dimming of the lights again saved her from further conversation.

Bill’s repertoire included a wide range of covers, obscure songs, nothing commercial or middle of the road but for the most part raw and gritty until the last number of his final set when he changed the pace totally. If the audience had been mesmerised by his singing and stage presence throughout the night then that was nothing to the emotion that was palpable as he sang the opening lines of the final song. ‘Once I was a soldier,’ his sweet clear voice sang out seizing everyone’s attention, holding it closely and taking everyone present on his journey with him. You could hear a pin drop throughout the whole song and it wasn’t until the very last line…‘Will you remember me,’ as it was softly fading, and his voice trailing off into silence that there was a collective sigh and then thunderous applause from the now crowded room.  
Cherie had tears in her eyes she was so affected by the words of the song and the way he had sung them. He didn’t sing them as much as she felt that he was living them, living each note and each moment. He had spun a web over the entire crowd and they had been willing captives. His voice cocooning your heart with his bared soul, he captured every single person in the now filled club, all of them there to see this remarkable performer and performance.

Tears spilt down Cherie’s cheeks. ‘That was beautiful,’ she whispered reverently, unwillingly even then to speak out aloud and break the spell.’ Even Derrick as tough as he liked to make out, even he was blown away yet again. ‘You didn’t tell me that he would do something like that,’ Cherie sniffed, pulling out a tissue from her handbag and wiping her eyes. ‘Shit, my mascara has run now. Do I look like a panda?’ She laughed at herself. ‘He didn’t sing that the other night. He stuck to the other stuff and finished off with a version of Twist and Shout believe it or not. Never heard it sung like that before and god it was amazing but that last one tonight… we have to do an interview with him,’ he was urging the girls, ‘something for the magazine. He’s got something that deserves to be out there big time. What do you think?’

Gloria nodded. ‘Do you know if he has a manager? What’s his background, where has he come from? How long has he been working? Like how did he get here and for that matter, where is here? I had never heard of it till you told us about it. What is this place?’ The three of them looked around at the same time. They had all been around the scene for a while but it was odd that none of them had really heard anything about the club. ‘I think Bill said the other night that it hasn’t been open to the public all that long. I had the feeling that it may have been a private club, you know members only up until recently but …’ he shook his head, ‘I can’t remember what he said now, I must have had a few more than I thought, it’s all a bit hazy.’ ‘Ok, we’ll ask him for a bit of back ground about the club and do a story on him, that’s if he is interested.’

Cherie stood up at that point. ‘I’m just going to the loo, coming then Gloria?’ Why is it that all birds have to go to the loo in pairs Derrick was thinking as Gloria got up too and they left him finishing up his drink as the crowd finished up their last drinks too and prepared to leave? ‘He does fancy you,’ Gloria was stirring Cherie in the privacy of the loo as she stood in front of the mirror repairing the damage she had done to her make-up. ‘Don’t start. He was just being polite cause you two are so obviously a couple and he probably didn’t want me to feel left out. God a bloke that looks like that could get anyone he wanted so why would he be interested in me?’ she stated flatly with her usual humility. Gloria rolled her eyes in disbelief. ‘You just have no confidence any more do you? Ronnie sure did a number on you girl. Cherie trust me, he likes you. Do you really think he agreed to come back to our place just to sit and chat? If you think that you need your head read. Now come on, don’t want to keep him waiting do you? Bet he’s out there at the table by the time we get back,’ she grinned.

She was right. When they came out and started walking back to where they had left Derrick there was Bill sitting facing towards the door of the loo attempting to look casually around but in reality fooling no one. He was basically trying to cop a look at Cherie as she walked towards him and judging by the smile she was greeted with, he liked what he saw.

He liked it a lot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Once I Was" written by Larry Beckett Tim Buckley  
> No copyright infringement is intended but merely homage paid to a beautiful, deep and meaningful song.


	3. Chapter 3

                                                            

 

‘Where to then?’ Bill asked as they all piled into a black Mercedes 300SD that Bill had driven around from some unknown garage and parked in the narrow street at the end of the laneway while the three of them waited to be picked up. None of them said a word as Gloria and Derrick piled into the back seat with Cherie hopping into the passenger seat and immediately sinking into the softest leather car seats she had ever come across. 

She looked across at Bill wondering about him. He didn’t look rich, he looked like any other normal Rock God Adonis she was thinking somewhat flippantly but a car like this with the price tag that it came with did make her wonder. He was ridiculously good looking but when he had changed after the gig he was wearing a clean but beat up Stones t shirt with ‘Kooyong Australia’ printed on it, hardly giving any indication of wealth or affluence. A pair of scruffy well fitted jeans and a black leather jacket slung on casually finished off the ensemble, giving him an appearance of casual chic. Yes, she did wonder about him. 

‘Where to then luv?’ he questioned again, snapping her back to the here and now. From the back seat Derrick gave directions and it didn’t take long for them to reach the old single fronted house they rented. Once inside they got the heater cranked up and Derrick showed Bill around. ‘Can I get you a glass of wine or something stronger, or how about a joint?’ Derrick asked Bill as Gloria settled down on one couch and Cherie on the other. Bill casually strolled over and sat down next to her. ‘Whatever’s going mate but make it small, I have to watch it,’ Bill reminded him. He picked up a copy of the latest edition of their magazine that was sitting on the top of a pile on the coffee table and glanced at the cover. 

He flicked through it with some interest, stopping to briefly skim an article that Cherie had written about the influence that pop culture had on fashion. There were stock images from the fifties paired with Elvis, the sixties and Brian Jones at his most stylish and the seventies with glam rock glitter and disco satin and those that had come and gone. ‘This is good luv,’ he turned to her and pointed to the article and the layout. ‘Did you choose the pics then and design the layout?’ Cherie nodded shyly as he moved over closer to her and talked about the way she had used the colours and asked how she had decided which trends to go with, what worked and didn’t work, where she got her ideas from and a million and one questions. 

They were locked in such an animated conversation that Bill didn’t even touch his wine. Gloria and Derrick knew it was pretty useless thinking they were going to get an interview out of him, they hadn’t even managed to get a word in for the last hour. Bill and Cherie had not taken their eyes off each other and they didn’t even notice when the other two left them and went to bed. It wasn’t until Cherie started yawning her head off that they looked at the clock and realised that is was nearly four in the morning. 

‘Sorry luv, you’re tired and I have kept you up, I’d better make a move and let you get to bed then.’ The disappointment that she felt at his words really shook her. She knew that she shouldn’t have but she really was hoping that… she didn’t really know what she was hoping but right now she wanted him to stay or at least ask if he could. She looked down at her lap trying to hide what she was feeling. In that brief moment Bill watched her closely and read her thoughts as plain as day. She looked up again and her eyes met his as he gazed at her. ‘I could let you get to bed or … I could stay,’ he said softly as he lent closer into her, their faces only inches apart. ‘That’s if you want me, to stay that is?’

Her eyes lit up at his words. He could see or he hoped to he could see that she wanted him as much as he wanted her. He had wanted her the minute that he saw her sitting there with Derrick as he walked over to the table but he wanted her to like him, he didn’t want to … well he just wanted to be liked for himself for a change. Very slowly, giving her the chance to pull away if he had misread her, he put his hand on her cheek and held her face, leaning in and brushing her lips. She didn’t pull away.  
The touch of his long delicate fingers sent shivers through her and when his lips brushed hers, tingles went racing over her to the top of her head. He pulled back a little and she opened her eyes to look at him, fearing that something was wrong but when she looked into his eyes she knew, she knew there was nothing wrong, she knew as he leant in and took her face with both hands that his lips were hungry for more. 

She broke away from him and stood up, taking his hand and leading him down stairs to her basement apartment. It was totally self-contained and as she gave him a guided tour he smiled. ‘Gloria was right, there are no windows down here except for that one back in the kitchen.’ She smiled, ‘You know it’s funny but I like it. I feel really safe down here, it’s my own little world if you know what I mean. It may be only small and pretty dark, well’ she laughed, ‘totally dark to be honest but I have everything I need. I have my own space as you can see and everything that I need. I have all my books and plenty of room to write. I love my desk and typewriter and I just feel really comfortable. I am sure that it breaks all the rules about light and council regulations but I really don’t give a toss.’ 

She had shown him the kitchen and her sitting room then the spare room. His eyes had lit up when he had seen the upright piano that she had in the corner and rows and rows filled with more books and a comfortable easy chair. ‘I love coming in here and just chilling out. I sit in here sometimes and just read for hours.’ Bill looked at some of the titles of the books and realised she had quite an extensive and diverse collection, everything from physics to photography, fashion and even the odd Agatha Christie not to mention Von Daniken, Freud, Nietzsche, C S Lewis and Tolkien. He shook his head at the wide range of subjects. ‘You read Tolkien?’ he smiled. ‘I love The Silmarillion, it is an amazing book. He was remarkable. What an amazing mind to have created a world as wide-ranging and intricate as Middle Earth,’ she shook her head in wonder at his great mind. 

‘I think what I admired the most was his creation of Frodo in Lord of the Rings. He created the least likely of characters, someone small and normal and humble and put the weight of the world on his shoulders and then had him turn out to be the most heroic of the whole book. Here was this character that had not asked to be anything special, had been minding his own business but through a quirk of fate his whole existence had changed. The fate of his whole world depended on the least likely of creatures and even though he was scared and at times felt so terribly unworthy, he did the best that he could through so much adversity. That is noble and courageous and inspirational.’ 

She paused, ‘It is so heroic. I get so emotional whenever I think of the courage and strength that it took for him to overcome what he faced. Whenever I get down and feeling sorry for myself or I see or read things that happen that are terrible and I think that the world is going to pieces, I try to remember that there are so many good things, such beauty and … I don’t know, such wonderful minds that can create someone like Frodo to give hope and courage to those of us that don’t have it. It’s dumb I know but everyone needs something to believe in and I guess I am a romantic at heart and not very courageous so I get turned on and inspired by those that are.’

Her passion touched Bill, it touched him more than she would ever know. He understood exactly what she felt, wasn’t that how he felt? He drew her into him and stood there just hugging her to him. He hadn’t felt this kind of a connection with another for a long time and it comforted him. It was so very nice to have a normal conversation about something that he was as passionate about as she was. 

He kissed her hair as he held her. She smelt wonderful and he wondered what scent she had on. He would always remember it and think of her whenever he smelt it again. He would remember her silky hair and the way she felt in his arms and the passion of her words. Yes he thought, everyone needed courage and something to believe in to keep going.

She looked up at him melting under his gaze. Her heart was beating like a drum and she was shaking. ‘Heh’ he said softly as he ran his fingers down her cheek, ‘are you okay?’ She gave a small nod. ‘I …’ whatever she had been about to say she never got the chance. Bill leant in and brushed her lips before she could speak. He pulled her into him tighter and she wrapped her arms around his neck, running her fingers through his soft hair. Their lips met again before the full passion of the moment overcame both of them. 

They finally parted and she whispered, ‘The grand tour isn’t over yet’ and led him to her bedroom with a bathroom leading off it. ‘The bathroom is in there if you need it,’ she added awkwardly. He nodded. ‘You know, I was in that much of a hurry to get changed after the gig that I didn’t have a shower after the show, would you mind if I had a quick one now?’ he asked. ‘Sure, there are clean towels in the cupboard and the soap and shampoo are in the holder.’ He smiled. ‘Thanks won’t be long.’ He took a few steps towards the bathroom then turned, coming back to her and taking her in his arms again kissing her deeply. 

‘I really won’t be long, I promise,’ he said huskily as he closed the door.


	4. Chapter 4

  

 

Bill used the excuse of grabbing a shower simply to be alone and gather his thoughts. This was certainly not how he had planned his night but fate had stepped in, in the form of Cherie and now he really needed time to think. His plans had been to go out after the gig, find someone to feed on and then have a quiet night reading and nothing more. Now he had to decide whether or not to feed on Cherie. She seemed like such a nice bird and he really liked her. He didn’t want to hurt her.

He knew that he could always glamour her into forgetting but he hated using it, it was like a lie, a subterfuge and it had never sat right with him but he was just too caring to inflict that kind of trauma and pain on someone without using it, he argued with himself. He sighed. He longed for the day he could be himself with a woman and accepted for who he was, not hiding behind the deception of glamouring. He was so sick of living with this dilemma he thought as he undressed and slipped into the shower. It was always the same he was thinking, his mind going back over the last few years.

Fate had always played a big part in Bill’s life. It was fate that he was born in the eighteen thirties in Louisiana; it was fate that he came from a hard working good and loving family that had taught him sound values and it was his fate to have married his childhood sweetheart. It was his fate to have fought in the Civil war and to have survived. And it was also his fate to stumble upon a lonely cabin, half-starved as he was, seeking sustenance and shelter, only to find deathly eternity waiting in the form of Lorena.

Perhaps it was fate again or sheer luck or just Bill’s determination and tenacity that eventually won his escape from Lorena but whatever it was, he gained his freedom and after travelling the world he made his way, like a lot of others at the time, to London in its hay day of the swinging sixties.

The world was changing and he was a passionate observer of the revolution that was taking place at the time. Barriers of all sorts were tumbling down. The establishment, fearful of progress, tried desperately to cling to the old ways but as the youth of the day took over the world with their culture and thinking, Bill sat back and reflected that perhaps one day, more than just these social barriers could be turned. He dreamt that one day those of his kind would be accepted and could live side by side with humans. The sixties gave him that hope and as the years progressed he embraced each new way of thinking and he waited. He was in no hurry; he had all the time in the world.

To keep boredom at bay he devised different ways to amuse himself. He had a substantial amount of income derived from property and other portfolio’s he had accumulated over the years so money was on object. He could have moved back to America in the seventies as the scene in London changed but he preferred to keep a distance from the States and more importantly from Lorena, so he indulged himself a little with various different lifestyles searching for the one that would suit him the best.

At one point he had rather fancied owning a small country manor and settling down with a few acres. He missed his roots, his farming background and thought that a country squire of sorts may dampen the restlessness that had begun to creep into the back of his mind but as much as he enjoyed the country life, it did present problems when it came to feeding. Small local villages are tight knit places and there was only so much glamouring he could do before things might come to light. So after six months he decided that this was not as successful as he had hoped and besides, it didn’t really satisfy his internal need to do something, something that mattered, it was just that he didn’t really know what.

It was around this time that the disco craze became big and moving back to London, after the quiet country life he had led, he became interested in it. He was hungry and what better way to source food than amongst the night life, and the disco scene certainly gave him ample opportunity to sample a wide variety of it.

He steered clear of the more well-known clubs, only going there on special occasions, but he did have some favourite haunts that supplied him with a willing bevy of women who were all more than happy to spend an evening dancing the night away on the disco floor, then be taken for a late supper and wake in the morning feeling a little tired but having memories of the most incredible sex they had ever had and a night they would never forget with the most gorgeous guy they had ever met. He did try to give them a good time before he fed and he made sure that any accidental unpleasantness was glamoured away if necessary. He didn’t like glamouring anyone but he did it as a kindness more than for any other reason or so he justified it in his own mind. But still, it just didn’t sit well with him.

His life had settled down into a kind of a routine until an odd quirk of fate intervened again. One night in around nineteen seventy seven, he had risen and was sitting catching up reading a newspaper before he went out when he spotted an article that was to change his existence yet again. The article was titled “Mysterious disappearance of Baronet and brother, strange corpses found.” Bill normally wasn’t one to read the more lurid articles in the newspapers but as he was about to turn the page a passage caught his attention and he then read the whole article.

The story described the reported disappearance of a minor Baronet some several weeks ago from his country estate and now the younger brother of the missing man had also disappeared after arriving at the estate to mount his own search. To make matters even more lurid, several bodies had recently been found by various locals in the surrounding area. After autopsies had been carried out it was found that in each of the deaths the cause had been exsanguination and the police were baffled, fearing some kind of serial killer on the loose.

Bill was thoroughly alert now, his eyes skimming quickly down the columns to the very last paragraph, the one that had really caught his attention in the first place. A police spokesman feared for the safety of the two missing brothers and appealed for any help from the public. It was noted that as the two brothers were unmarried and no other family members had come forward, the estate would be placed in the hands of a trustee until either one came to light or their deaths could be confirmed. The missing persons in question were Robert William Erasmus Thomas Compton and his brother Thomas James Edmund Barclay Compton both of county of Essex.

Like all Southerners, Bill knew all his family particulars going back as far as the family bible entries were written. He knew that originally his family had gone over to the states some time he thought in the early seventeen hundreds or possibly earlier, but he was not sure of exact details. He did know one thing though, Robert, William, Thomas and Erasmus were definitely family names having had a brother Robert who predeceased him as a child. He also knew that it was a younger son who had left the old country to make a life in the new world, leaving some kind of family dispute behind and it was for him, William that younger son that Bill was named after. He remembered vague tales handed down from his father about the possibility of distant relatives back in England but in all this time he had never given it much thought.

The article had an odd effect on Bill. Perhaps it was because he felt so lonely at times and as hard as he had tried over the years to forget what it is like to have a family, to have blood ties, or maybe it was just that his curiosity got the better of him, but for some reason he knew that he wanted to find out more and he set his mind to it. He even devised a way of how to go about it.

As winter had set in and dusk was early now, Bill made a habit of rising and going to the records office just before closing. Within a few days he befriended a young office clerk, taking him to the pub, buying pints and shouting suppers, all to gain information from the lad. Eustace, having worked there for only a short while and passionate about genealogy, was chuffed with the interest that a guy like Bill would take in a spotty nerd like him and was more than happy to put together a family tree for him, sourcing information from microfiche files and archived records.

Within one week Bill had all the information that he needed and armed with a map he set off early one evening for an hour’s drive to the small estate that had been mentioned in the newspaper article, Eustace’s research having proved his gut feeling as being right. He was related, ever so distantly to the missing Robert Compton, on his father’s side, a cousin many, many times removed but a cousin of sorts never the less.

On the drive down he thought about why this seemed to be so important to him and he really couldn’t answer. He had no idea of what the hell he was doing and wondered if this was just a wild goose chase but somehow he felt that there was something he needed to do. He was being pulled in this direction and hell, what did it matter if nothing came of it, it was a bit of a change to get away for the night and he knew he could get back in time to go to ground so, well no harm done really if nothing did eventuate. In a way he was hoping it would be a waste of time because at the back of his mind the words “cause of death: exsanguination” kept nagging at him, giving him cause for great concern.

Pulling down the small country lane he decided to park a little distance away and do a bit of reconnoitring before attempting to tackle the house. It was when he had climbed over the old crumbling brick wall and was making his way through the grounds that surrounded the old manor house that his sensitive ears picked up quiet sobbing coming from the direction of a ramshackle summer house. Moving soundlessly towards it, he picked up a scent that he knew so very well. He smelt blood. Every muscle in his body tensed and his fangs dropped. He was prepared for any eventuality as he quickly moved around the corner of the ruinous building and stepped into the doorway.

What he found however he was not really prepared for though, as sitting on the dirt floor was a young man not more than twenty five or six, holding what appeared to be a dead and bloody rabbit, his lips smeared with blood and bloody tears streaming down his face. As unexpected as the sight was, it was made even more startling to Bill when he looked closely at the young vampire’s face. It wasn’t so much his face as his eyes. Bill recognised the look in the younger vampire’s eyes, it was the same look that he saw each evening in his own when he looked in the mirror. It was self-loathing at what he had become.

The young vampire cowered and backed even further into the corner in a pathetic attempt to shield himself from what he saw as an older vampire with fangs drawn. He was clearly terrified. Bill stared and as he did waves of compassion rolled over him. He retracted his fangs immediately. Looking at the pathetic unfortunate, his compassion turned to anger. ‘Who did this to you?’ he demanded to know. ‘Where is your maker?’ The wretched pitiable younger vampire stared in to Bill’s eyes, still cringing and trembling. ‘I don’t know what you mean’ he sobbed, ‘what is a maker?’ Bill’s heart lurched with abject sorrow at the other’s plight. ‘Who was it that attacked you?’ Bill softly said in an effort to get the young vampire to talk. ‘It… it was’ he hesitated as though he was unable to get the words out, so hurt and horrified by what he had been through, but seeing the look of sympathy on the older creature's face, he managed to gasp out ‘My brother, Robert attacked me,’ he whispered hoarsely. ‘Robert did this to me. I’m so hungry,’ he finished pathetically.

Bill’s cold dead heart lurched with the pain of memory. That terrible time when he had first been turned flooded through him, dredging up the agony of hunger and thirst combined with the confusion, the denial of his circumstances, every emotion he had felt and were all embedded in his psyche. He still had nightmares about it, dreams that tore through his day sleep and haunted him like ghostly spectres. He moved forwarded swiftly, sank to his knees and embraced the young vampire who wrapped his arms around him and clung to him sobbing. ‘It’s alright. I won’t let anything happen to you.’ His voice was soft and full of emotion. ‘You said your brother did this to you? What is your name? I am Bill,’ he drawled softly, dropping his fake English accent for the first time in years and reverting to his soft southern lilt. ‘My name is Thomas, Thomas Compton,’ he whispered as though finding it hard to think back to just a week before and remember when he was human and had a name, when he wasn’t this dark disgusting creature.

His response didn’t really surprise Bill. It was as though he had almost known it. He had been compelled to go there for a reason, something had been pulling him down this road and it just seemed to fit. ‘Where is your brother, your maker Robert?’ Bill asked quietly while still holding Thomas in his arms. ‘I don’t know,’ he replied. ‘Bill what happened to me, am I dead. What am I and who, who are you?’

All this was flashing through his mind as he stood in the shower in Cherie’s bathroom. It seemed like just yesterday that all this had happened and three years had gone by. If he had not met Thomas he would never have gone down the path that he did and then he wouldn’t be standing there now, the hot water trickling over his body soothing him, seeping through his hair as he closed his eyes and drifted back to that night when once again fate had turned the course of Bill’s existence.

‘What am I and who are you?’ Thomas’s voice echoed through Bill’s mind.


	5. Chapter 5

                              

 

Bill moved a little and still holding Thomas, soothing him as best he could, he held him up a little straighter so he could look into his eyes. Taking a deep breath that wasn’t totally necessary, he began to try to explain what had happened to him. Bill reflected back to how he had been in this position and what Lorena had said to him. He didn’t want Thomas to go through what he had so as gently as he could he explained what would now be his life and his future. He watched the look of fear then horror spread across his face. ‘I am a monster, why don’t you just say it, I am evil and will be evil forever.’ He broke away from Bill and picked up a piece of what was once ornate seating that had now collapsed into a pile of shards. Thomas held it to his chest about to plunge it into his soft dead flesh. Being older, Bill was quicker and grabbed it from him.

‘Don’t. Don’t even think about it. I know what I am talking about, I felt exactly as you do but if it is any consolation, it does get easier. Give yourself time.’ Thomas looked at him again, as though he was finally seeing him for the first time. ‘Who, who are you? What are you doing here?’ He was a little more coherent now. His despair still there but pushed down as though his futile attempt at meeting the true death had spent his immediate shock and anxiety for the moment at least.

‘My name is Bill, Bill Compton and I think that I am your cousin, a lot removed. I am from Louisiana and was turned on my way home from the war, the Civil war that is.’ Bill looked at him. The poor sod, it was a lot to take in. Thomas opened his mouth as if to say something but nothing came out. ‘I fled my maker many years ago,’ Bill went on, ‘and wandered the world surviving as best as I can. I won’t say that it has been easy as it hasn’t and there have been moments, too many moments, when I have wanted to do exactly as you were about to but something has always stopped me. It doesn’t have to be as bad as you think. You just need some help right now.’

Bill sounded so sincere that for the first time since, since he had been… what was it Bill had called it – turned, for the first time since he had been turned Thomas felt like there was some hope, small though it might be, he thought. ‘I am so hungry,’ Thomas almost groaned apologetically. ‘I will be here for you Thomas. If you will trust me, I will be here for you. Now, I need to know what happened but first things first, I need to get you fed.’ Bill looked at his watch. ‘Right, do you have a local village around here, any pubs?’ He knew what he had to do and took charge.

‘Wait in the car.’ Bill had parked his car a couple of blocks away from the small village pub that Thomas had directed him to. Ten minutes later he saw Bill coming down the street with his arm around what looked to be very friendly local lass who seemed to be more than a little impressed with him. She was blonde and if it had not been for all the make-up caked on her she would have been terribly pretty, and Thomas had always been particularly partial to blondes.

She was dressed in something that was so short it could have almost doubled for a belt and despite the cold, she had on a skin tight singlet top so low cut she was spilling out of it. She had a lot to spill out Thomas noticed, his fangs clicking into place just at the sight of her. She was what all the local lads referred to as the village scrubber even though they all really did genuinely like her and truth be told, not one of them could honestly say that they had done the deed with her. None of them had, she was a virgin but no one except she herself knew that.

Opening the front passenger door where he was sitting, Bill smiled and still with his arm around her, he smoothly introduced her saying, ‘Thomas I would like you to meet Fran, Fran this is Thomas. Fran has graciously agreed to join us for a drink. I explained that you have been ill for a while and haven’t been able to get out much and are a bit lonely so she thought that she would cheer you up a bit.’ He was smiling as he helped her climb into the front seat to sit on Thomas’s lap.

Because his fangs had dropped automatically at the sight of her, he was glad that Bill had parked in the shadows of a large tree where no street light could shine in to reveal his predicament. As it was, he was fighting desperately to remain in control, his hunger for blood and desire for sex so strong that he was in danger of taking the girl then and there. It was only Bill’s firm but kindly restraining hand on his arm once he had taken his place in the driver’s seat that held him at bay. ‘Not yet’ Bill whispered so softly that only Thomas’s now extra sensitive hearing could pick it up over the cassette playing the sound track to Saturday Night Fever, as he pulled away from the footpath and sped off into the darkness.

‘Here I do love your car and hmm, I like your friend too. He is gorgeous.’ Fran was murmuring approvingly as she wriggled into Thomas’s lap in the most provocative of ways and ran her hands down his chest. He bit his lip so hard he drew blood and he looked at Bill appealingly. ‘Hang in there’ Bill said quietly, ‘not much further.’ He turned down a small lane that he had noticed when driving to the pub, a sign post to a park pointing the way down a tree lined dirt track. He was taking a chance that it would be deserted and not full of lovers parked in a quiet spot for a bit of privacy. Pulling into the car park at the end of the dead end road, Bill was relieved to find they had it all to themselves.

‘Here, what are you two about then,’ Fran was giggling, ‘you’re not going to both take advantage of a poor girl then are you?’ She said this a little too hopefully to be sincere. ‘Fran love,’ Bill murmured persuasively as she looked across at him, ‘Thomas really likes you and if you like, he would like to get to know you better. Would you like that too, do you know what I mean then love?’ She looked into Bill’s eyes. ‘Oh yes please,’ she responded eagerly, not fully aware of the danger she was in. Her naiveté astounding Bill, she may have wanted to appear experienced but to Bill’s eyes she was still terribly innocent and trusting. She gazed at Bill and her voice then became thick and almost drugged like, ‘Yes I would like that. Thank you.’ ‘And you aren’t going to be scared are you, you are just going to have a good time and tomorrow when you get up you will only remember what a nice time you had a with a local lad. You will get some vitamins because you are feeling a bit run down then won’t you?’ Bill purred persuasively, smiling so charmingly that she simply couldn’t take her eyes away from his.

‘I had ever such a cool time but I need some vitamins,’ she parroted. ‘Thomas, will you please take me? I want to show you a good time.’ Hunger overcame him finally and with fangs drawn he inched closer to the pulsating artery in her neck, flicking the seat back and whipping her onto her back before she even knew what was happening. Bill was ready to spring if things got out of control, he knew how very hard this was for the younger vampire, how hungry he would be and how hard it was to stop. He also knew that he would be so very aroused but he hoped for Fran’s sake his hunger would be at the top of his agenda. ‘Steady’ he said quietly as Thomas parted her legs and inched his way between them ready to strike. ‘Be gentle.’ Bill’s words struck a core. He looked at him, his eyes filled with desperate desire but with an understanding too and he gave a small nod. ‘Don’t take too much. Just take enough for the moment and we will get you more. Trust in me Thomas.’

Bill felt for him keenly. His fangs throbbed and his body was telling him he needed this girl nearly as much as Thomas, remembering what it was like, his body was in sympathy with the younger vampire. He was in danger of being engulfed by the blood lust too but he was older and had learnt how to keep the darkness at bay. He knew he had to stay under control for hers and for Thomas’s sakes. Somehow he managed it and he managed to keep Thomas restrained enough to feed on her without him going overboard and doing something he would regret. Bill wasn’t proud of what he had done but he knew that it was a far better outcome than having him roaming the country side in the state that he was in.

When Thomas had finally had his fill or what Bill deemed would be enough to keep his thirst at bay, they dropped Fran off nearby her home and waited to make sure that she got in safely. ‘Now,’ Bill said turning to him, ‘let’s get you back to London, you can stay with me till we get things sorted. It’s getting late and we need to get in before daybreak. You can tell me all about what happened as we drive back.’


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bill learns a little about his newly found aquaintance.

 

‘Bill, thank you. I … I don’t know what would have become of me if you hadn’t found me. And please, please call me Tom.’ Bill took his eyes off the road for a moment to look at him. Already he could see that his colour was better, a little pinker, and he didn’t have the starved look that he had when Bill had found him.

On the trip back to London Tom told Bill of how although he loved his brother, the feeling had never been that mutual. Sibling rivalry had been very apparent from the time that he could first remember, Robert resenting the arrival of his younger brother even though the title and estate would be passed down to the eldest. That meant nothing. His jealousy had always been that of an only child for years, Robert being some twelve years older and consequently a favourite, only to be usurped upon the arrival of a younger brother who was everything that he wasn’t. They were opposite in temperament and in looks. When their parents had been killed two years ago in a plane crash, Tom’s life became totally unbearable at the hands of Robert and so he moved out.

He had gotten work doing whatever he could, calling on favours, staying with mates, and he had ended up working for a friend who had run a club up in Liverpool. It wasn’t exactly what he had been planning to do… he was Oxford educated and had high hopes of becoming an artist but that was all out of the question now. So he had thrown himself into the club scene and wasn’t doing too badly, that was until he was contacted by the police to be told that Robert had gone missing. He made the long drive down to the estate to see if he could shed any further light on what had happened but things went so terribly wrong.

He arrived in the early hours of the morning having driven down after closing the club early and he had made his way to the family home, thinking that it was empty. He had been wrong. To his surprise when he walked in the door Robert was there. Where he had been hiding himself he didn’t know at the time and he didn’t get a chance to find out. Before he had been in the door more than five minutes Robert struck. Tom faltered at that point of the story.

He didn’t know what had happened other than waking to find everything in darkness. He had been thrown into the disused part of the cellar that no one would even know of, shut off long ago when they were children.

The home that they lived in dated back to the Tudor times and as the estate had been built by a family practicing the outlawed Catholic religion that Henry Tudor despised, they had taken the precaution of putting a tunnel in that began in the cellar and led to what was now part of the stables. The legend had it that the outlawed papists held mass secretly and the local priest that had fled from the outlawed local priory; he had come and gone via the tunnel. Only Robert and Tom knew of this part of the cellar and of the tunnels existence, having come across it as children when exploring. They had been forbidden by their parents to play in it for their own safety. It had been boarded up on their mother’s orders as she was fearful that the boys would be disobedient and harm would come to them from the old rotting walls. With their parents demise no one else would even have a clue it was there. That was where Tom had ended up escaping from.

He had realised that he was in the old part of the cellar and as his hunger gradually drove him to distraction, he found the old passage and made his way out clawing through it. He had no idea of what he was doing and had only been conscious for two nights when Bill had found him. All he knew was that Robert had finally had his revenge upon him, remembering the sheer hatred on his face as he was caught off guard. He had no idea what had become of him, the last thing that he remembered was the overwhelming pain of the attack.

‘I knew he hated me, but to hate me so much that he did this to me,’ Tom’s voice broke. ‘I suppose that he was turned too and that is why there have been so many reports of bodies turning up. I don’t know how or when Robert was made v…’ he trailed off. No, he couldn’t even say the word yet, he was still in denial really but fight it as he may, sooner or later Bill knew that Tom would have to accept it. He was vampire.

‘And then you found me.’ Tom was looking at Bill with almost adoration on his face. ‘I mean it, I don’t know what would have happened if you hadn’t shown up. I … I don’t think that I could have, well could have fended for myself if you know what I mean. Like I just couldn’t understand what was wrong with me. When I tried to eat normal food I got so sick, that was yesterday I think then, well I .. something inside was urging me to … to’ he whispered the next words too ashamed to say them out loud, ‘to kill. It’s disgusting. I am disgusting.’

‘You know that not all of our kind thinks this way, the way that you and I do. And I am sorry to say but I have the feeling that Robert doesn’t think that way either. The fact that he turned you and abandoned you well….’ Bill’s voice trailed off. ‘Tell me about your maker’ Tom urged, ‘what is she like?’ Bill shuddered a little at the thought of Lorena but then, upon reflection he thought that perhaps he was lucky. She had at least stayed with him after turning him and she had tried a little to take care of him in his infancy even if her debauched ways were not to his taste. Plus, she had seen reason and let him go and that, he has since learnt, is quite rare in a maker.

‘Why did she do it, turn you I mean? Did she ever tell you?’ Bill shook his head. ‘She never needed to tell me, I knew,’ he said quietly. ‘She… she had been turned herself at an early age and never had…’ he pondered on his thoughts for a moment then went on, realising just how true an appraisal he was giving for the first time in his existence. ‘She had never really experienced love. There had been many men in her life but none that had perhaps treated her as she should have been treated, never loved her as a woman but many had loved her for her body and that is not what she craved, not deep down. Everyone wants someone to love them for themself, just for being who they are and not for being a sexual vessel that is used and discarded. I think that was all she needed and when I stumbled across her she saw something in me that she wanted desperately and so she took it, or she tried to take it. She didn’t know any better really,’ he said this almost as justification for her action.

Bill had never talked about any of this before or not for a long time and related all of this with empathy and an understanding that he had not ever really acknowledged before. ‘She wanted what she couldn’t have.’ Tom looked at him. ‘What did she want Bill, what was it that she hoped to get from you?’ Bill replied sadly, ‘She wanted what I gave my wife Caroline, she wanted my heart.’ ‘You were married?’ Bill nodded slightly. ‘I was married to the most wonderful woman and had two beautiful children, Thomas my son and Sarah my precious daughter.’ ‘You had a son you called Thomas?’ ‘Kind of ironical isn’t it?’ Bill laughed a little, ‘and here I am in another time and a different country and I find another Thomas Compton.’

Tom fell silent. They had reached London and Bill was driving through an area of the city that Tom was not familiar with. They were somewhere down near the East End docks, a labyrinth of narrow streets and laneways that one could easily get lost in if you had no sense of direction. They turned down yet another narrow laneway before stopping at the side of a dilapidated disused warehouse. ‘This is it.’ Tom looked around. ‘What is it?’ Bill got out. ‘Come on, we are home. This is where I live.’ Tom got out of the car and looked around. In his previous life, his human one that is, he would never have believed that anyone would choose to live anywhere as drab as this seemed to be but now, what did it matter he thought to himself, and who the hell was he to judge anyway.

Bill saw the look on his face and smiled. ‘Don’t judge a book by its cover,’ he chuckled as he unlocked the small door that led down a deep flight of stairs. When they got to the bottom and Bill ushered Tom into the huge space he stopped. ‘You know this would make a great club. It’s … well it kind of reminds me of The Cav…’ ‘The Cavern?’ Bill finished his sentence. ‘The Cavern was much smaller and more,’ Bill searched for the right words, ‘more sweaty.’ Tom gaped. ‘You were there? I mean you were there when they were there … back in the day?’ Bill chuckled. ‘Yep, sure was. And it was pretty crazy let me tell you.’ ‘Fuck!’ was all Tom could come up with, impressed to pieces.

‘So, what is this place then?’ he asked as he looked around. ‘Oh it’s just one of the properties I bought last century by way of investment. It was in good use then but as the years went by well, you know, things change. I was pretty lucky, it was seconded during the war and housed armaments but luckily it made it through the blitz. A lot of the surrounding streets and factories weren’t so lucky. Poor sods that worked in them, there were a lot of casualties, civilian casualties that is. There always is in war.’ He sighed.

‘Come on, it’s getting on for dawn and you must be knackered.’ Tom noticed that Bill was no longer using his native accent since getting back to London. He really did sound like a true East Ender now. ‘Best get you sorted then tonight, when we get up, we’ll talk and then get you something to eat. I know that it is a lot to take in,’ Bill went on, his arm around the young vampire’s shoulders, ‘but she’ll be sweet mate.’ Tom nodded.

He had the feeling that as long as he was with Bill then yes, everything would be sweet.


	7. Chapter 7

The beat of the throbbing disco music matched the pulsating artery in the girl’s neck. As far as Bill was concerned that was not the only thing throbbing but he had to stay focussed on the task at hand and that was mentoring Tom in the art of feeding and glamouring, something that he was determined he would accomplish with a compassion and care that Lorena had been dismissive of in his own schooling. 

Bill had come a long way in his short existence. Perhaps it was his inherent personality or it may have been his human upbringing, either way it didn’t make any difference as from the moment that he met Tom he had found a purpose that had been missing from his existence. He had finally found a reason to keep going. He wanted to help Tom and others accept their reality and co-exist with humans. 

When Tom had awoken the next evening after Bill had found him, for a moment he had no idea where he was. He sat up in panic least he still be lost in the darkness of the cellar or wandering aimlessly around the family estate garden trying to find something, anything that would quench his hunger. He trembled at the thought of the last few days but as he looked around the room and gathered his bearings, he calmed down. He hadn’t been in that great a state last night to take in too much but now he had to admit that the room Bill had shown him to was sheer luxury compared to his last few days and even comparing it to the small flat that he had been living in since leaving home. 

Tom was impressed with everything about it as he lay in a large comfortable double bed, the cotton sheets soft and warm against his cool skin. Three walls were painted in a deep purple shade but behind the bed the wall was papered with some kind of black and silver pattern to create a feature wall. A huge mirror of glass and black obsidian mosaic pieces locked together in a spectacular silver rectangular frame sat on the wall in lieu of a bed head. The covering on the bed was some sort of exotic Indian silk in silver, black and purple that blended in with the walls, matching scatter cushions sitting ornately on a soft black leather Natuzzi day bed over against one wall.

There were two small bedside tables in glossy black wood inlaid with chrome each side of the bed, shaded lamps giving out a subtle light and over in the corner of the room there was a chrome and glass tiered stand with bottles of after shave and balms randomly scattered here and there on each shelf. A glossy black unit housed the latest in sound systems and a colour television that looked dreadfully expensive and probably was. The floor was covered in purple shag pile that Tom could see you would just sink into when you walked on it and just when he thought that it couldn’t get much better, he suddenly noticed the whole ceiling was covered in mirrored tiles.

Tom smiled for the first time in a week at the sight of them. He of course didn’t know Bill at all but judging from his kindness to him he was a little surprised and well, delighted that perhaps he wasn’t quite as … old fashioned as he may have thought he was, perhaps he was just conservative but judging by the mirror tiles, he wondered. His thoughts were interrupted by a quiet knocking on the door. ‘Are you decent mate?’ Bill called out to him. Tom yelled out to come in and sat up a little as Bill walked in and sat on the side of the bed. 

‘How are you feeling?’ he asked him, looking at him intently. Tom thought about it for a moment before replying. ‘I’m okay I think. I am hungry but not as bad as I was. Does this pass, I mean am I always going to feel like this, to have this insatiable appetite?’ he asked. Bill noticed that Tom was sounding a bit more like he expected someone to that was from the back ground that Tom came from, a bit more polished and less the frightened lost child that he had come across the night before.

‘This is the worst, at the beginning, but I won’t lie. It is a battle at times to hold off the … what I call the darkness, the dark passenger that lives within us. It will be up to you Tom whether you want to embrace that darkness or try to live more like….well more like a human. It isn’t easy and you will be tempted. And, there will be times that you will hate yourself and fight with that inner nature but I promise you, if things get too bad then for your own sake – resist if you can unless you are prepared to live with your conscience and that is something that only you can decide.’

‘Bill, I can’t live like… I can’t become what I think my brother has become. I can’t embrace that kind of cruelty. I was never like that. I hate people that are cruel and intolerant and full of their own egos. I wanted nothing more than to be an artist, to love music and be with people that thought like me. To be everything in fact that Robert wasn’t and now, has become even more so,’ he said sadly. ‘As much as he has done this to me and it was the cruellest of all things he has done, I pity him for it. He… he left me to die and had no idea that I hadn’t I am sure. I don’t know, perhaps he did and that was an even crueller more despicable thing to have done but…’ he paused to think about his next words, ‘I can’t really hate him, that would achieve nothing and only make things worse for me. Hate gets you nowhere does it?’

‘No, no it doesn’t. I can’t hate Lorena for what she did to me. I pity her too, just as you do Robert. I am sorry that she chose not to exist in a better way, not to at least try to make better of her situation but I think talking about her last night to you, for the first time since I was turned, I can finally understand.’ He patted Tom’s leg through the bed covers. ‘So you see in a way, Robert has done me a favour, had I not met you I would not have let go of the resentment that I have lived with all these years, plus it has given me an idea of what direction I want to take from now on. Now, how about you have a shower and I will see if I can find something for you to wear, we are going out.’

His eyes quickly appraised Tom’s body as he was sitting uncovered from the waist up. He was smaller in frame than Bill, more lean with tight muscles and fine bone structure. He had light brown hair, almost auburn with copper highlights courtesy of a local salon that Tom had gone to because he fancied one of the birds there. He had the same blue eyes that Bill had but they were a little lighter, more aqua in colour and tilted upwards with long lashes and his face, although finely sculptured was finer boned and softer than Bill’s, more baby faced and thinner. He had multiple piercings in his left ear and while Bill’s current hairstyle was more in keeping with the disco scene, Tom’s was cut to the latest trend and would usually be spiked up with tons of the new in thing… gel. ‘Towels are in the cupboard and if you need anything just give me a yell then. Feel free to use anything you like, for as long as you are with me, my house is your house mate. You got that?’

Bill left Tom to have a shower and went to his room to grab some clothes for him. He felt for Tom, all of this was so overwhelming but he was going to do everything that he could to help him through this hideous time. Rummaging in his wardrobe he managed to come up with a pair of black designer pants and matching shirt for Tom while he chose navy pants and silk shirt for himself. Picking them up he took them into Tom’s room just as he was coming out of the en-suite naked and towel drying his hair. 

‘Sorry mate but I don’t have any jocks, I don’t wear them, I go commando.’ Bill apologised. ‘Thanks Bill, I’ll manage,’ Tom smiled. ‘Have you got any gel then mate?’ he said dropping the towel and walking over to the corner glass stand to pick through the range of bottles and jars sitting there. ‘Oh, you wear Halston do you? I love it mate. One of my favourite after shaves. Do you mind then?’ Bill shook his head and Tom splashed a liberal amount on his hands and patted his face then splashed more around his neck, rubbing it through his soft downy chest hair as it trickled down his body. Bill sat on the day lounge while Tom finished dressing and watched him. He smiled a little to himself. He was a good looking guy and he knew that he would have no trouble getting on with the birds. 

That was going to make Bill’s job all the more easy.


	8. Chapter 8

‘You ready then mate?’ Bill asked. Tom nodded. ‘Right then we’re off. Come on then.’ Tom followed Bill out to his car and got in. Bill changed the tape in the cassette from the Saturday Night Fever track to Bowie’s new album Heroes. ‘God I love this song,’ Tom enthused as it blasted out. Bill smiled, his eyes lighting up. ‘It’s great isn’t it,’ and he began to softly sing as he drove. Tom was gob smacked. ‘You know you have a great voice. It is really great. Have you ever thought of singing, I mean really singing?’ Bill shrugged dismissively, memories of another time and place stirring but he pushed them down, too painful, never look back he told himself. Instead he glanced across at Tom. ‘You must be joking. Knock it off mate.’ ‘Bill I mean it. We had live acts at the club and none of them were half as good as you. I have contacts in the music business…’ Tom stopped. ‘Fuck, I… I had contacts,’ he trailed off.

For a short period of time he had been carried away, forgetting his circumstances. ‘Fuck, fuck, fuck it.’ He exclaimed in his frustration. Bill glanced at him quickly as he drove. ‘It’s okay. You will get used to this, it just takes a while. Give yourself time.’ Tom sat silently looking out the window. ‘I’ll never see the sun again will I?’ he sighed, ‘I’ll never meet a bird and fall in love and have …. Bill, what about having kids? Can I, shit can I even do it let alone have kids. I mean, I know that I can get it… well I know that I ….’ Bill understood all the things going through his mind. ‘Trust me, you can still do it, but no, you won’t ever have children, well not in the sense that you mean.’ ‘Well what the fuck other sense is there?’ 

Tom was becoming really upset. He had loved kids and always wanted to have some. He had gotten a local girl knocked up when he was only nineteen and both his parents and the girl’s in question had insisted that she was too young at sixteen to have the baby, and consequently had forced her into an abortion, the situation had left him bitter and shattered. The family had moved shortly after and he never saw her again. Now he would never have the chance again unless... no that was too much to hope for and he put it out of his mind, concentrating on what Bill was telling him. 

‘You can choose to become a maker, to have a progeny,’ Bill said quietly. Tom stared at him open mouthed. ‘You mean do this to someone else? Inflict this, this disgusting miserable despicable existence on someone deliberately just to have a …’ Tom was speechless, ‘don’t tell me that you have done that, that you have “progeny” just don’t. I couldn’t bear it.’ Bill shook his head and replied quietly, ‘No, no I don’t have any and I never intend to. I couldn’t bear the thought of it either. No matter how lonely I feel, I would never do that, not willingly.’ 

‘But no one can make you do that surely. I mean…’ he hesitated, ‘well aren’t we the most powerful err, aren’t we totally powerful now?’ Tom asked innocently. Bill shook his head. ‘Oh we have powers but we are governed too. We are governed by the old ways and the old laws, laws older than the democratic laws of the land. We are answerable to a structure just as much as humans are.’ Tom frowned. ‘But what laws Bill, and just exactly who are we answerable to?’ he questioned. 

Bill patiently explained how they were answerable to sheriffs of various areas and had their own monarchies that reached back further than that in Great Britain. ‘I have already contacted your area’s sheriff and told him of your … told him what happened. He was aware that there was a rogue vampire that must be new and very careless and from the moment that the newspaper reports started to appear, he has been trying to track the culprit down but now with the information that I have given him, hopefully he will have more success.’

At that point Bill pulled into a car park and stopped, parking the car next to what to Tom’s eyes looked like one of many discos that had sprung up in an upmarket inner suburb, all very sophisticated and chic and judging by the talent standing out in the cold waiting to get in, very well attended by some extremely hot looking birds. Tom’s eyes scanned the crowd and his fangs popped. ‘Oh fuck!’ he said annoyed and embarrassed. Bill sat for a moment making no attempt to get out. ‘Look Tom, I know that all of this is new. It’s engulfing and crushing if you let it be but take it from me mate, you have to lighten up on yourself or you will drive yourself sodding crazy.’

Tom nodded, he knew that Bill was telling him all of this for his own good and he knew too that he was being sincere and honest with him. He was grateful, he was more than grateful. ‘Mate, I really don’t know what I would have done if it hadn’t been for you.’ Bill nodded a little embarrassed. ‘It’s okay mate, no need to thank me. Just do me a favour though will you, just follow my lead tonight okay and if you feel like you are getting out of your depth and can’t control yourself then let me know okay?’ Tom nodded. ‘You’ve got it.’ 

They got out of the car and made their way to the front doors where the bouncers were vetting the patrons but when they saw Bill, who appeared to be known to them and a regular, they ushered him and his new mate in. Tom felt like he was transported into a scene from Saturday Night Fever. It was almost like the crowd parted for Bill, well-wishers stopping him as he walked through the crowd. Girls throwing their arms around him, commenting to him and fussing over him as they made their way around the club and over to a raised area where tables were placed overlooking the multi coloured dance floor. Sliding into a booth, they sat back and surveyed the crowd. 

The place was packed with patrons, all dressed to the nines and in their finest gear. The music was pounding out and the dance floor was seething with a mass of gyrating bodies. Tom was appraising his surrounds, running his expert eyes over the whole place. The club he had run may have been in provincial Liverpool but it was nothing to be sneezed at and was one of the biggest in the city. The music scene up there was just as hot as down here in London but still, he looked around impressed, this place was well set up and obviously pretty successful judging by the crowded bar area and packed out room.

The area that they were sitting in had a row of tables along a balcony affording a view of all the dance floor and the bar. It was reserved for those regular patrons that had more or less made the place a second home and so had waiter service provided by the club, wanting to encourage regular patronage and take care of those that stayed faithful to them. Bill ordered two scotch and cokes when Nathan, his regular waiter showed up and introduced Tom to him with a wink. ‘It’s all about appearances,’ he said to Tom after Nathan had gone off to get he drinks. ‘Just look like you are drinking to keep things normal,’ he smiled. Tom nodded to him a little distracted; he had spotted a bird on the dance floor that had moves that were certainly moving him. Bill looked over in the direction that Tom was staring and smiled. The blonde was dancing her heart out to K C and the Sunshine Band – That’s the Way I Like It blaring out through the club’s incredible sound system. She appeared to be with another girl, a blonde but with more of a honey kissed look. Both of them were stunning. 

‘Are you up for a dance then mate?’ Bill smiled. Tom braced himself and looked at Bill. ‘Its okay mate you are going to be fine. Just watch me and if you are getting out of your depth then let me know,’ he urged him again. Bill stood and led the way onto the floor, smoothly moving over to where the two girls were still dancing. Gliding up to them, he took the hand of the one with the honey coloured hair and spun her around with ease then pulled her back into him, breaking into a tango hustle move. The girl laughed and moved to his body effortlessly, melding in to his moves to match his comfortably. Tom had been hanging back a little but as the music morphed into Shake Your Booty the blonde in front of him had other ideas and grinded up to his hips in a bump move. That was enough for him, inhibitions flew out the door and he instantly relaxed. Both the guys were great dancers and impressed the hell out of the two birds they were attempting to pull. 

They danced the next two dances then the music changed to Donna Summer’s I Feel Love and both the boys felt the mood of the girls shift, becoming more focussed and erotic, matching the music. Tom had pulled his girl into him and was making no bones about what was on his mind, his body moving to the rhythm of the erotic sound, their bodies wreathing in a tango of their own making. Bill and his girl were locked together enjoying the tantalising notes and beat of the song just as much as their friends were. When the song faded Bill took the opportunity to offer the girls a drink and the four of them made their way back to their table. 

‘I am Maddie and this is Suzie,’ Bill’s girl said as they sat down. ‘Hi, I’m Bill and this is Tom.’ They ordered drinks from Nathan and sat chatting easily, the girls telling them a bit about themselves and getting to know each other the way any normal couples do when out on the town and meeting someone that they fancied. They explained that this was the first time that they had been to the club having just moved down from Wigan up north. Tom gave a bit of chuckle and explained that he too had just moved down from Liverpool, giving them something in common. 

The night wore on and getting close to closing time they were up on the dance floor again for one last dance. It was a slow one, another number from the reigning disco Queen Donna Summer, Love to Love You Baby. As they each held the girls tightly in a slow sensual dance Bill noticed that the beat of the throbbing disco music matched the pulsating artery in Maddie’s neck. As far as Bill was concerned that was not the only thing throbbing but he had to stay focussed on the task at hand and looking across at Tom he sensed that he was starting to feel the pull of Suzie’s body, the blood lust was kicking in and he knew that it was time to make a move. Putting his arms around Maddie and the other couple, he suggested that they all get out of there and go back to their apartment for a night cap. 

He got no objections.


	9. Chapter 9

‘Wow, this is some place you have here.’ Maddie and Suzie were looking around Bill’s apartment with curiosity, ‘It’s huge and that space downstairs, that is simply amazing.’ They were sitting up in the mezzanine lounge area that was next to the bedrooms, Tom still trying to get a handle on the layout of the place too. When Bill had moved in and reclaimed the old warehouse as his permanent home he had designed the layout himself. He didn’t need much, just somewhere comfortable and light tight so he had kept the main part of the huge warehouse basement at the bottom of the stairs as an empty space, not really needing to use it. He had then commissioned a second level to be built in the shell of the building, a huge mezzanine that housed an enormous lounge, master bedroom and three spare bedrooms all with en-suites. 

Not having had too much experience with kitchens recently, well not since he was turned had he had any need to so he hired an interior decorating company that specialised in kitchens to do the outfitting. Although it was purely for show, he wanted it to look realistic so even though it was definitely not to his taste, what he ended up with was cutting edge for the times. It was decked with burnt orange bench tops, caramel and chocolate brown tiles, a varnished cork floor and lime green bar stools fitting neatly into the island in the centre of the kitchen. Everything was modern and up to date with the latest decorating trends even down to the macramé wall hangings. Bill hated it but seeing he was never in there what did he care, it served its purpose.

Other than the kitchen, the rest of the place had been tastefully decorated according to his likes, an eclectic combination of his various interests melding with modern chic. The overall effect was rather stunning and a reflection of his class and good taste. 

Bill mixed drinks for them all while the two girls sat on the couches murmuring to each other unable to believe their luck in meeting not just one, but two exceptionally attractive guys, and ending up the night in a place like this. In the meantime Tom went through Bill’s vast array of albums looking for something he thought would be appropriate for the night ahead. He passed by Never Mind the Bollocks by The Sex Pistols as being inappropriate and settled on ELO’s Out of the Blue. He’d always loved Telephone, it was his favourite track from the album. 

The two couples settled down on the matching couches, the girls sipping their drinks with the boys giving a very good impression of doing so too while listening to the music. Tom was watching Bill and mirroring his moves. When Bill draped his arm around Maddie and pulled her into him and began to kiss her, Tom did the same with Suzie but he was fighting his instincts, battling with the urges flooding through him and in danger of losing himself. Bill gently broke away from her to glance over to Tom. He sensed how hard this was on the younger vampire and decided that he best get things moving before it all got out of hand. 

Getting up he took Maddie’s hand and urged her to her feet. ‘Would you like to join us?’ he asked Suzie seductively as he turned to Maddie, ‘you don’t mind do you then love?’ He looked from one girl to the other. They looked into his eyes, their own eyes glazing over. ‘Yes, that would be great.’ Maddie was saying a little slurred. ‘Can we all make love?’ Suzie asked Tom staring at him longingly, her speech thick, as Bill led them all into Tom’s bedroom. 

Bill moved over to one side of the large bed while Tom led Suzie to the other. Slowly, with as much restraint as he could manage, Tom undressed her, slipping off her halter neck top and sliding his hands into the waistband of her pants to pull them down her silky legs. Her hands moved to his pants and fumbled a little in her haste to get them off as he took off his shirt. Maddie was standing in front of Bill and began to undo the buttons of his silk shirt, running her fingers down his chest and softly twining the soft hair around her fingers while he unzipped his pants and let them drop down his legs to step out of them and leave them in a heap on the floor next to the bed. 

Tom looked across and Bill and caught his eye. Bill gave a small nod and whispered softly, ‘Go gently, not too much, savour it ….take your time.’ Tom gave a small nod of acknowledgment. ‘I’ll try mate,’ Tom rasped, his hunger palpable and his throbbing manhood making its presence felt in a very real way. He turned back to Suzie who was standing obediently waiting for him to pay attention to her. He sat down on the edge of the bed pulling her into him and he buried his face in her flat stomach, kissing his way across her torso and trailing small nipping bites down her hips. She threw her head back slightly and moaned as he gently ran his fangs down her into the silken valley at the top of her thighs. She moaned again and shuddered with pleasure and with a swift movement, she found herself on her back, Tom straddling her, parting her legs with his body as he moved skilfully in to position himself. 

Bill turned his attention back to Maddie who, ignoring the moans of her friend, was occupied with her own pleasure source, namely Bill and his member standing to attention right in front of her. She dropped to her knees and took his substantial hardness in her hand and began to stroke him, her hand working him slowly, gently teasing him with each movement. She leant forward getting closer and closer to him. He could feel her warm breath on his cool skin and instinctively he gave a thrust with his hips, brushing her lips with his hardness. She opened her mouth and took him, her hot mouth engulfing him with its wetness, her tongue running down his length as he began thrusting with rhythm. 

Tom glided smoothly into Suzie’s silky folds. She was wet for him and he was rampant. He had been having sex since way before he legally should have. Girls just seemed to love him and followed him around so by the time he was eighteen he was more experienced than the average guy of his age but in all of his human years, no matter how fantastic he had thought that each experience had been, nothing compared to this. Each thrust of his body consumed him, heightening every sense imaginable. 

With a quick movement Bill lifted Maddie onto the bed laying her face down then drew her up on her knees. As he entered her from behind he looked past her body to watch himself in the mirror on the wall behind the bed. She too looked up and watched as he thrust into her, her lips parted and soft moans escaping from her mouth each time he touched that special place within her. He pulled her up onto her haunches and wrapped his arm around her holding her breasts with one hand while sliding his other down to find her wetness, teasing her gently with his long fingers in rhythm with each thrust of his engorged staff.

Tom didn’t think that he could hold back much longer but Bill was right, he wanted to savour every moment of this new experience, he wanted to taste everything that there was to offer and with that, holding Suzie with her legs wrapped firmly around him, he rolled over so that he was on his back and she was now straddling him, affording him a full view in the mirrored ceiling above the bed. Suzie lifted herself up and slowly sank down on the full length of him, taking every long hard inch into her slowly, teasing him deliciously. Watching their reflection was the most erotic experience that he had ever had. 

Bill watched Maddie’s face as his movements became faster, his arousal building. He knew that look that a woman gets when she is in a heightened state of arousal and it turned him on, pushed all the buttons for him. He was going to come and so was she, he could feel her muscles begin to cave and as she did, he bit gently into the back of her neck, sucking in her blood as they reached their climax together.

Tom pulled Suzie down on to him, her body with her delectable breasts lying against his as he thrust deeply into her. He watched fascinated, gazing at the image of them in there throes mirrored in the ceiling. The strength of his arousal becoming too much for him, he could not hold back and as he sank his fangs into the soft flesh of her neck he came in an earth shattering orgasm so powerful that she came too, panting and moaning loudly. With each of her contractions her blood spilt into his mouth. He sucked the life giving nectar greedily at first, he was in danger of losing to the darkness so tempting and alluring but then he managed to gain control of himself and broke away, gently kissing her lips as she lay spent in his arms. 

‘That was fucking awesome,’ he rasped as he turned to look at Bill with surprise written all over his face, ‘just awesome.’


	10. Chapter 10

Even at that point in his existence, Bill had not foreseen the entire direction that he would go in when the meeting with Tom changed the course of his life, Bill continued to reminisce lost in time in the basement bathroom of Cherie’s apartment.

‘I never dreamt that anything could be that good,’ Tom said to Bill after the two of them had left the girls exhausted and still sleeping in the bedroom when they awoke the next evening. They had spent most of the night making love to them again and again and they had all finally fallen asleep at dawn in each other’s arms completely sated. Even the newly turned young vampire had had his fill. 

Bill smiled. ‘I am really proud of you mate. I know how hard the first time is, it is really easy to get carried away and simply go for it but you didn’t and that is really something.’ Tom looked at Bill with gratitude. ‘Mate I think that if it hadn’t been for you it would be a totally different story. I mean, well if I had been on my own and met a bird I think, god forbid, I would have drained her. It’s like, well it’s like you have a thirst and you just can’t stop isn’t it.’ Bill nodded. ‘You did well mate’ he said patting him on the back. 

When the girls finally woke all they remembered of the night before was incredible sex and having had a wonderful time. Bill offered the girls a lift home and with Tom and Suzie in the back seat pashing on for the whole way, and Maddie in the front seat stroking Bill’s thigh, the boys looked set for any time they wanted a date in the future with the two girls, the two of them more than willing participants. They dropped them off with the promise of a date in the next few days secured. 

That was the start of what was to become not just a friendship but ended up being a business partnership of sorts that would go on for the next few years and it all came about because of the vision that Bill now had through his meeting with Tom. 

Back in the late eighteen hundreds, Bill had been a member and a proprietor of sorts of an exclusive club, its members were all vampires and it catered to a select clientele at that. It was like any of the exclusive gentleman’s clubs of the day except that the sole purpose of this one was to supply those of the vampire fraternity with a safe place to feed and willing healthy girls to supply that food source. 

He had been living with Lorena in Paris. She had moved them both there after things became a little too hot for her in the States, some of her more notorious escapades coming to the attention of the authority and she had decided it safer to go back to the old countries she had known when she was younger. Bill had no choice but to go with her at the time, he was trapped, she would not release him. He was caught in her web still, the only solace he had at the time were the business trips that he made to London to supposedly take care of her affairs. He loved the short breaks away from her that afforded him the opportunity to have some kind of existence and create a life for himself without her.   
But as the years had gone by, Bill had moved around with Lorena at her whim and had left the running of the club to a trusted retainer, then things had changed. 

The First World War had bought with it a vast upheaval upon society and Bill had become even more entrapped in Lorena’s snare with the coming of the jazz age. He had moved to the States with her in the early nineteen hundreds and his life had become mired down in her debauched ways. With the eventual death of his appointed manager, so too came the demise of the club as Bill was so entrenched in the States it was impossible for him to do anything about it. It had stood forlornly abandoned for many years along with the idea behind it but now, since meeting Tom, the idea had resurfaced. Not in exactly the same form but similar. 

Bill wanted to open a club, a modern club but for those vampires that had been turned against their will and either abandoned by their makers or, for those who chose to live as peacefully as possible amongst the rest of society as best they could for that time. In other words, he wanted to give what he saw as the more enlightened of vampires somewhere to go to, to meet others and feed in safety but still have a good time and above all else, a support mechanism when they needed it. And that is what he was determined to do.

He talked about it to Tom first, explaining his reasons and hoping that the young vampire would be interested in helping, and then he canvassed others that he thought might be interested. Every one of them was empathetic to the idea and pledged their support. It took months of preparations before the huge space that Bill and Tom referred to as the cellar, was turned it into a proper club. Without Tom’s vast experience in that scene, Bill doubted that he would have been able to pull it off. 

Maddie and Suzie were a great help too. The boys had begun dating them on a regular basis, not so much as a love interest but more out of a mutual friendship, no girl in their right mind objecting to being out and about with two such handsome guys, having a great time and definitely having great sex with no strings attached. They were liberated and loved it. 

Gradually Bill and Tom had agreed to let them see what and who they really were. It was a very slow process as neither Bill nor Tom thought that they would be accepted for themselves but as time wore on, both the girls came to know them and like them not for their looks or wealth, but for their personalities. The boys felt that it would be worth the risk to reveal exactly what they were. They knew it was a really big risk but worst case scenario, they could glamour them if things went wrong, but it didn’t. They then left it up to the girls to recruit other birds from amongst their friends that would be willing participants to a bit of nocturnal entertainment. 

Bill still had a vast circle of vampire colleagues that were living in and around London, many he had known for more than a century. Over the course of the years he had lost touch with a lot of them but when he opened the club word got around quickly. It was gratifying to find how popular it became in a short space of time and within a few months it was the place to go for any vampire that wished to live by the mainstreaming code of ethics and a central meeting place of support for those struggling with the temptation of the darkness. 

Only time would tell if it would work or not.


	11. Chapter 11

Some six months later Bill offered Tom a partnership in the club. They had become the firmest of friends, Tom forever grateful for the day that Bill had found him and had taken him under his wing. Bill was thankful too for the friendship. It had been a long time, not since his days during the war really that he had a close male friend and confidant so the feeling of deep friendship and respect was mutual. The success of the club would never have happened if it had not been for Tom. The two of them made a great team.

They discovered that they both shared a lot of likes and dislikes too. Tom, like Bill, was an avid reader, something that had developed into a passion of sorts when at university and shared much the same taste in books and authors enjoying the classics, contemporary and even Tolkien. They also shared an appreciation of art, Tom painting the many art pieces that decorated the walls of the club. He was gaining a reputation amongst the vampire culture and his works were becoming quite sort after in some of the more influential galleries around town. 

Of course gallery owners were enamoured by what they saw as a mysterious and rather eccentric new comer with his penchant for anonymity, Tom fearful least he run into any of his former university mates who would no doubt raise questions about his disappearance, but in the world of art galleries eccentricity was embraced and if anything, admired and flouted. 

They both loved music too. Tom had been ecstatic when he had found that Bill had a small baby grand piano over in the corner of his living room as he too played piano and electric keyboard and some nights, when they had a few of Bill’s other vampire acquaintances around that were musically inclined, they would have an impromptu jam session, hamming it up for each other, singing along and totally letting their hair down. Tom even bought a new keyboard and they really let it rip on classics, belting out some of Bill’s favourite pieces from the sixties like The Doors Light My Fire, with Tom’s efforts on the organ something to behold.

Despite the fact that they only played for fun, they really had the makings of a great sounding group. They were lucky in that they had Marlon, a former member of a band who played the hottest jazz drums back in the thirties at The Cotton Club. Then there was Hamish a redheaded Glaswegian who everyone called Ginger, he played a mean bass guitar and had been turned back in the fifties just when he had started playing skiffle in a small band doing the ballroom circuits. 

As good as they all were none of them came anywhere near close to the talents of Jimmy though. He was a miracle on guitar, his flair no one had seen the like of. He had been a casualty of the sixties wave of turnings when everyone was turning on and tuning out and anything went… much to the delight of some vamps who thrived on the lax culture and took advantage of the drugged haze stupor some found themselves in, it made for easy pickings of the vulnerable and quite a few sniggers amongst the fringe groups of old school vamps when LSD was getting blamed for so much instead of the real cause behind it being Vee and its influence.

Once the club began to take off they didn’t have that much time for relaxation though. The club itself had a mixture of live music and a resident DJ. With the disco boom still around and the live music scene as popular as ever, Tom and Bill were astute enough to cater for all vampire tastes but as its success grew, more and more vampires came and with it came the issue of whether to keep it totally underground or whether to let humans in under strict guidelines that there was to be no feeding on the premises and only those vampires known amongst the mainstreaming circle were to be allowed admittance. 

After successfully trialling it they came to an arrangement where Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays would be nights where the doors were open to the public but on Wednesdays and Sundays it was members only, meaning only Vampires and associates, Maddie, Suzie and those girls who were now considered “friends” were allowed in.   
On Wednesday nights they had live music, bands being hired and paid handsomely for playing, glamoured before leaving so that nothing could slip out about the goings on at the club, and Sunday nights were disco nights. Both nights were always popular and had a reputation for being hugely acceptable to all. 

It was on one such Wednesday night that Bill’s current singing career had begun. The band that had been hired didn’t show up. Their roadies had been in straight after dusk and set up their equipment but the band itself was to arrive separately and they just didn’t show up. They had been on their way there when the van they were in was involved in an accident that caused it to flip, killing one member and injuring two others so Bill and Tom were left without any entertainment. The crowd was getting restless and it was too late to get their regular DJ to fill in as he was booked elsewhere for another regular gig. 

Jimmy, Ginger and Marlon, were there to check out the band booked for the night and when Jimmy went looking for Tom or Bill to find out what the story was, upon finding what had happened, they promptly suggested that they get up and put on a bit of a show. Tom was all for it, thinking it would be a hoot but Bill wasn’t that impressed with the idea. Only Tom knew that once a long time ago, Bill had been a professional musician, back in the days of the Second World War in of all places Marrakesh. It had been a long time ago Bill had confided in him one night when reminiscing about the old days and his wanderings, and many things had changed since then but Tom was pretty persuasive, cajoling him into it so he very reluctantly agreed. It was one thing to play to an audience of humans in a far flung club during war time but to get up and sing in front of other vampires, now that took balls according to Tom. ‘Come on mate, you can do this. It will be a blast,’ he persuaded Bill. 

Once on stage it all fell into place and judging by the reception that they got and Bill’s singing in particular, from such a tough audience, well it was only a matter of time before they decided that they should do it more often. They quickly became a hit amongst the vampire scene. It was something totally different and caught their imagination to have an all vampire group, one that was so good. Wednesday nights were starting to be huge and the club was bursting at the seams in no time. 

With the success they were having Bill was forced into relying more and more on Tom to handle the running of the club while the group, still to be named, was busy rehearsing whenever they could. Tom didn’t mind one bit, he preferred playing only on some numbers that required piano or keyboards, he loved mixing it with maintaining the smooth running of the club and he was becoming heavily involved with the mainstreaming concept. In a way it all made him feel more human. He had loved the club scene before he was turned so why not now and like Bill, if it helped others and himself at the same time then sweet. Besides, the group’s popularity had a side advantage, it was a chick magnet. The birds just loved it.

The Wednesday night sessions with the group became so popular that they extended the gigs to firstly Tuesdays and then Thursdays as well, and that was how it had been for the last year or so when Derrick had found Bill. Their repertoire had grown, their professionalism had increased and the band had tightened up but none of the others were under any illusions as to what was making it so successful. Bill was out there in front and that was the difference. He could really sing. 

So Derrick had found Bill and now, Bill had found Cherie.


	12. Chapter 12

Lost deep in thought, Bill wasn’t aware that he was not on his own until a hand touched his back. Swiftly turning with fangs fully drawn, he was bought back to the here and now by the small squeak Cherie let out as she drew back into the corner of the shower recess. She stood trembling, her eyes wide as she looked at him. 

‘Cherie,’ Bill almost pleaded as she went on staring, ‘it’s not what you think.’ She opened her mouth to speak but hesitated, doubt flooding her face. ‘It’s true,’ she whispered softly, gazing at him in awe, ‘it’s not just a legend!’ Stepping forward slowly, her heart pounding in her chest, she reached up to his lips with shaking hands and gently ran her finger around them. ‘Show me,’ she said softly. This was not the reaction that he had been expecting and it surprised him. She surprised him.

Bill slowly parted his lips and gradually bared his fangs, hesitating as he did so least she be scared even more than he felt she had been by the suddenly revelation. She stepped in closer and ran her fingertip along each one feeling the tip lightly, all the while fascinated. Her hand trembled but not with fear now, there was a different emotion flooding through her now that the initial shock had abated a little. 

‘Is it true?’ she looked up at him, looking into his blue eyes steadily gazing down at her. ‘Is what true?’ he asked her puzzled by her question. ‘Is it true that vampires can make love all night?’ she whispered as she swallowed, a shiver running down her body at the question. 

Bill’s eyes lit with a new reaction and very deliberately he pulled her body into his, holding her tenderly to him, the hot water of the shower cascading over their bodies, warming and caressing them like a second pair of hands. ‘Do you want me to show you?’ he rasped. She lifted her head from his chest where it had been resting and looked into his soul, giving a small tremulous nod. ‘Will it hurt?’ she asked a little shakily. ‘Not with me it won’t,’ he whispered to her catching the spark of desire in her eyes.

Very slowly and deliberately Bill leant down and picked up the sponge he had let fall when she had startled him. Taking the soap from the holder he lathered it until it disappeared in his sensuous hand in a mountain of fragrant bubbles. Stroking her back with one hand, he inched her closer into this body, their hips meeting in a fusion of skin and heat. He ran the soapie mass over her shoulders and down her arms, relaxing and easing what was left of the tension from her. Down her arms and back up again, lifting and lightly soaping her arm pits, stroking her sensuously before moving across and running down the slope of her breasts. 

Aromatic froth foamed down her body, cascading over the two taught mounds of her nipples peeking out from the snowy white lather, tempting and lusciously pouting. Despite her obvious desire for him, he continued washing her, moving down her body with the sponge, across her flat stomach, massaging her hips and down her silken thighs. He was on his knees now, consciously avoiding the one part of her that was screaming out for his attention. Lifting each calf one at a time, he worked the sponge in tiny circles, inching his way down to the tip of her toes before lifting each foot and gently massaging them. 

He then did something that Cherie had read about but had never experienced. She had always inwardly cringed when she had read it, thinking that it didn’t sound like any kind of a turn on at all, but when he took her foot and slipped her toe into his mouth, curling his wet tongue around it and licked the tip, a tingle ran through her whole body right up to the roots of her hair. She gasped loudly and was flooded by a burning need for him to be in her, filling her. Her muscles clenched and she ached for him. 

Sliding her toe out of his mouth, he began trailing kisses up her silky legs. Each kiss as he moved upwards, teased her with the anticipation of what was to come. When he glided over her knee and moved to her inner thigh she had to hold onto his shoulders to stop herself from sliding to the floor, her legs in danger of no longer supporting her. Softly running his fangs along the skin, he inched his way to her golden curls, lapping at her fragile bud until she was no longer able to stand she was shaking so much. 

He wrapped a strong muscular arm around her buttocks for support and pulled her in to his mouth, tenderly spreading her lips further with his fangs and sucked smoothly on her wet folds. His tongue working magic exploring her, enjoying her, teasing her mercilessly until sweet bliss, he reached her centre and slipped it into her, building an unmistakeable rhythm. ‘Please, Bill please…’ she was begging him now, her need so desperate for him that she was almost in despair to have him.

Quickly standing, he pressed her body to him, his manhood standing to attention against his flat belly, swollen and purple with his need, the eroticism of the moment affecting him as much as her. He whisked her into his arms as though she was no more than a feather and grabbing a towel on his way, he hurriedly carried her into the bed room standing her down next to the bed before patting dry every inch of her skin, tenderly administrating to her golden patch. He cupped her into his towel wrapped hand and massaged her dry, dropping the towel to the floor and slipping first one long sensuous finger then two into her, waiting for her muscles to relax before he slipped his third finger in, in preparation for this length and girth. He wanted this to be perfect for her and as enjoyable for her as it would be for him.

He was thrilled to find her wet and silky, his manhood responding with a jerk, like it had a life of its own. She could not take her eyes off him now, she was desperate to have him in her and when she saw his stiffness reacting to her she whimpered with need. He picked up the towel to quickly dry himself but she wasn’t having any of that, she wanted to touch him, to feel his skin under her hot hands, to hold his throbbing member and feel him responding, to cup his heavy sack in her small hands. She wanted to run her lips down him, suck on him and drink his nectar. 

She reached out her small hand and touched him with the lightest of touches. Bill stood perfectly still, like some frozen god carved out of alabaster that should be in a gallery, she thought. His sculptured muscles flawless, his body complete and absolute, he quite simply took her breath away. He looked down at her, gazing into her eyes and saw the lust and desire within them matching his own. 

Suddenly she was on her back lying on the bed and he was kissing her, deep lapping kisses that were setting her on fire. His tongue was making love to her with the passion that was burning through them both, willing them to consummate their feelings for each other. As he ran his hand down her supple body she undulated to the rhythm of his tongue, moving her hips in an unmistakeable cadence that fired his imagination.

‘Bill’ she could barely whisper, he went on kissing her tormenting her with his passion. ‘Bill..’ she gasped urgently. ‘Bill!’ He broke away slightly and looked into her shining eyes. ‘Do you have….’ He gazed at her intently, ‘have you got any …’ ‘What is it?’ he was running his fingertips over her nipples, gently brushing them, and making her ache. ‘What about,’ she hesitated embarrassed to bring it up but knowing that she had to, ‘what about protection?’ she mumbled. It suddenly dawned on him what she meant and he leant down and nuzzled her face. ‘It’s all right, you needn’t worry. You can’t get… anything from me. Trust me.’ She leant up to his face and softly kissed him on his lips. ‘I do, I do trust you.’ 

He ran his hand down to her silky thighs and parted them then lifted himself into position, taking his weight on his strong muscular arms and gently, he slipped into her with one slick thrust.

Despite Bill’s administrations to her she was not prepared for him, for how perfect he was. He filled her, touched her very core and sent her into a torment of craving for his body to complete her. With each thrust she moaned in delight. With every kiss she needed him more. She wanted this agony to be over and she wanted it to never end. In the final moments of their passion, she felt him swell within her; her muscles began to cave and she lost her head, kissing him frantically. Without knowing why, she bit into him, drawing blood from the tiny puncture wounds. 

Bill’s eyes glazed over. The darkness was upon him. He could hold back no longer and as painlessly as he possibly could in the state he was in, he sank his fangs into her neck and they were both pulled over the edge into the abyss of darkness, reaching an explosive climax in unison.


	13. Chapter 13

When Cherie finally came back from that shimmering place of delight, panting for breath and heart still racing, she opened her eyes to find Bill gazing at her. She smiled and the worried look that had been furrowing his brow disappeared. ‘That was…’ She got no further as Bill smothered her in kisses. Kissing her eyes, her cheeks, her nose then finally her lips, hot and wet and sweet, tasting of his own blood. 

He was still lying on her, he was still in her, engulfing her with his body and as his kisses became more ardent, she felt him pulse with in her. Her muscles responded automatically and clenched around his hardness, a wave of warm milky lust spreading through her again as her body told her what her heart wanted to hear. She began to move her body against him, willing him to continue. 

He needed no encouragement and as he trailed his kisses down from her lips to her neck then down to take each one of her hardened nipples in his mouth in turn, he was flicking his cool tongue around her and sucking gently until she was wreathing, holding his head in her hands as he lapped at her breasts. He was driving her to distraction again. He moved in and out of her silky folds with each thrust bringing them closer and closer to reaching their peak. They quickly came together in unison again, almost a continuation of their previous act, and lay in a tangle of arms and legs, and blood and sex. 

‘That was wonderful,’ she whispered, ‘no it was more than that, it was unforgettable.’ She was lying in the afterglow, breathing heavily and trying hard to still her pounding heart. Bill tried to look modest but he was pretty pleased with himself. It had been a long time since he had made a real connection with someone that he really liked and it seemed like an eternity since he had made love and not just had sex and fed on a quick pick up. Even Maddie, who he genuinely liked, was purely a non-committal relationship on both parts.  
‘You are wonderful,’ he responded as he looked down at her, lying on his side and leaning on one arm for support. ‘I could eat you,’ he whispered lustily, nudging her nose with his, a habit that he had that he was not even aware of. ‘I thought that you are already had,’ she smiled.

Bill frowned a little. ‘I am sorry, I ….’ She raised a finger to his lips to shush him. ‘Bill, it was wonderful. I really mean it, I am not just saying it. You were wonderful.’ She looked up at him and he was as close as possible for a vampire to blushing. ‘You weren’t … scared? Tell me the truth now.’ She shook her head. ‘No, I know that I should be but no, I wasn’t. I have the feeling that if I had needed to be scared I would not still be here having this conversation, I …’ she hesitated choosing her words carefully, ‘I somehow think that if you had meant me harm you would come across differently to how you do.’ 

Bill raised his eyebrows, ‘And just how do I come across then love, if you don’t mind me asking.’ She smiled at him warmly, ‘Well, for starters you wouldn’t have been so shy to begin with. I really thought that you weren’t interested in me, that you meant it when you said that you should go. And you have no idea of how deflated I felt, I might add.’ She looked at him meaningfully. ‘If you had been at all dangerous I don’t think that you would have said that, I think that you would have just taken what you wanted and to hell with my feelings but … you didn’t.’

‘It could have been an act or a ploy to lure you into a false sense of security,’ Bill crooned, ‘how do you know that it’s not?’ He was running his fingers gently down her body as he said this, soothing and tantalising her again, ‘vampires often hurt the ones that they … like,’ he mused.

‘Well, there was also the amount of time you were in the shower. I have never had anyone ask to have a shower before having sex for a start, and then you were in there for so long that I really thought that you were having second thoughts.’ He smiled a little embarrassed by this. He had not meant to get so lost in his thoughts but he had been so attracted to her that he had hesitated, unable to take a step that may have harmed her. He had had a lot to think about.

‘If you had wanted only one thing, to fuck me and the rest,’ she said, making it sound like a death sentence before going on, ‘then I think that you would have pounced the minute we were on our own and not shown a genuine interest in, oh I don’t know, in all the books and things we had been talking about. And you did seem interested, you sounded,’ she shrugged a little, ‘you sounded sincere.’

She was looking at him trustingly now, hoping that she had been right in her assessment of him. ‘Hell Bill, if I am wrong then ok, I am wrong and you are not the person that I think you are but somehow, despite being a ….well despite how you are, I think that you are pretty nice really and you are definitely talented and more than interesting. And,’ she grinned, ‘you are unbelievably hot and a tender and caring lover. If you meant to do me harm then I don’t think that I would be feeling like that about you. Or you could just be the world’s best actor. Either way,’ she leant up to him and pecked at his cheek, ‘thank you for the best sex of my life.’

‘You are one hell of a bird Cherie.’ He leant in and kissed her soft lips. ‘I won’t hurt you I promise. That’s not me, not how I am. It’s been a long time since…’ he looked away, he didn’t want to admit to this beautiful trusting girl just how long it had been since he had really felt anything for a human on a personal level, instead he rolled off her and wrapped his arm around her pulling her into him. He could feel the pull of dawn coming on and knew that he didn’t have much time to explain what would happen once the sun came up.   
‘Cherie, I have to tell you something and seeing you trusted me with your life, I will trust you with mine.’ He went on to explain as simply as possible how he would be during the day and how very vulnerable he would be. She took it all in and just as he felt the pull taking him into the darkness, the last thing that he remembered was Cherie’s soft lips on his and her whispering to him. 

‘You are safe. Sleep well, I won’t let anything happen to you, I promise.’


	14. Chapter 14

‘Good morning Mon Cherie,’ Bill’s husky voice whispering in Cherie’s ear was the first thing that she heard when she gently stirred awake the next night. ‘What time is it?’ she murmured sleepily, smiling as her eyes focussed on his face. ‘Who cares,’ he smirked deliciously as he began trailing kisses down her neck, across her collarbones then down to her pink nipples that were rapidly tightening with each move that he made. Sliding her own hand down his chest, she slipped her fingers into his thatch of thick fur, a shiver running through her body as she found what she was searching for. He gave a thrust of his hips as her hand grasped his hardness. ‘Are you hungry?’ she purred up at him, her eyes meeting his, ‘do you fancy some breakfast?’ His smirk turned into a smouldering confirmation at her suggestiveness. ‘Oh,’ he replied silkily, ‘I am so going to eat you.’ 

With that he disappeared under the covers and moving down her body with his tongue, she found he was not exaggerating when he had said that he would eat her. He had her writhing with desire and begging to be taken before he finally succumbed to his own needs and mounted her, gliding into her slowly, teasing her to the point of coming then stopping, building up the anticipation until she thought that she could not bear it for one moment longer. 

‘Knock, knock,’ a voice vaguely filtered through their passion, ‘so how did it go with the delectable Bill last night and where the fuck have you been all day? We haven’t seen you ….’ Gloria’s voice stopped in mid - sentence as she poked her head around the bedroom door, took in the fact that it was obviously not the greatest of timing on her part judging by what she had seen before Cherie or Bill had heard her and had time to react, and she simply muttered, ‘Oh god, I am so sorry.’ That was about all Bill and Cherie heard as a very embarrassed Gloria beat an extremely hasty retreat with visions of Bill’s glorious backside moving in a way that made her hot to think about. 

‘Now where were we?’ Bill asked, ‘oh yes, I seem to remember we were about here.’ He thrust deeply into her again and with just a few more strokes of his hardness they were spun into rapturous oblivion of an earth shattering magnitude that left her panting and shaking with its intensity, the short interruption had only fuelled their need for each other.

Cherie had always thought that she had had good sex before she met Bill but this, this was something different. It wasn’t only the fact that he was more than amply endowed, and lord knew that he sure was, but it was because she had the deep feeling that he was so sincere, so caring and considerate of her. She was totally sure that for someone with the nature that he had, if he had not been fundamentally a good person then she would not be having the same kind of experience at all. 

He rolled off her and took her in his arms, cradling her to his chest. She looked into his eyes and smiled, giving him a soft kiss on the cheek. ‘Thanks for trusting me,’ she said shyly. His eyebrows rose. He shook his head. ‘It’s me that should be thanking you, I mean I don’t normally…’ He looked a little embarrassed. ‘You don’t normally what?’ She asked him eagerly, wanting to know about him, what he was like deep down underneath. Not just out of some morbid curiosity to know what a creature of his kind was like but to honestly know him and what he was all about personally, on that level. 

She did have to be honest with herself though and admit that she would like to know all about being… vampire, but first and foremost she wanted to know about him. About this beautiful man that had chosen her to be so… well so honest with. She somehow had the feeling that being honest and being a vampire would be a hard combination to live with. 

‘I don’t normally show myself, the way that I am, I mean being vampire,’ he said the word sort of spidery, not in his normal voice, more dark and rich and medieval she thought fancifully. ‘What I mean is that normally,’ he went on, ‘by now I would have taken away your memory of last night, you wouldn’t remember seeing me like I am, you would just have woken up and had memories of a great night of sex.’ 

She laughed. ‘What’s so funny?’ he asked a little annoyed. She grinned at him and poked him playfully as she responded, ‘But silly sod, I have got memories of a great night of sex, and a great morning or well, I should say evening and….’ she licked two fingers seductively with her tongue before she trailed them down his chest and softly teased his nipples while blowing on them, ‘and perhaps more than just one great night,’ she suggested hopefully.

Bill’s fangs popped automatically and she gave him such look. ‘You like that don’t you?’ she asked with a teasing smile on her face, ‘does it turn you on?’ He reached out to her but she had other ideas and bounded out of bed and made a dash for the bathroom giggling, running into the shower and turning it on. With vampire speed he was in the shower recess with her and had her pinned gently but firmly against the tiled wall just as the water began to heat and pour down over the two of them. 

He clamped his lips over hers lapping at her. His tongue working its magic again as it danced seductively with hers, each thrust imitating his body as he rubbed his stiffness against her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and giving a little jump he slid his hands beneath her buttocks for support, his shaft sliding into her folds without any effort or hesitation what so ever. 

‘Bill,’ she purred into his ear, curious to know him all. ‘Fuck me hard, let go and do it, I want to know your darkness.’ He pulled his face back a little and looked sharply at her, his eyes narrowing with lust, his lips bared a little, his fangs large and throbbing as her words ran through him. She ran her finger down to the point of one and very deliberately stabbed it, then ran her trickling fingertip around his lips and into his mouth for him to lick. ‘Do it, do it like I won’t break, I want you to take it all.’ Her eyes reflected the need for his darkness. He recognised the intensity in them that he hadn’t yet seen. She wanted this experience, she was ready for it she was telling him. 

She gasped loudly at his first thrust, so hard and so deep that she thought that she would come just from the sheer touch to her inner core. Her wetness flooded him, exciting him, washing around his throbbing shaft and pulling him even deeper into her. Time and again he thrust into her, each movement a torment, an agony so desperately did they both want each other. 

His darkness over took her. She embraced it and fell into the depths of a deep pool of midnight ink when they both finally climaxed, his mouth greedily sucking on the wound to her neck pulling her deeper and deeper into the black hole that she had fallen into with him, spiralling down into the depths of a shadowy world that was as mysterious as it was alluring. She clung to him for what seemed like minutes, panting and unseeing, unsure of what had happened or where she was. 

‘Cherie,’ he called to her, willing her to come back to him. Guilt and concern was written all over his beautiful face at losing his head as he had done. ‘Cherie what have I done?’ The melancholy urgency in his voice at his actions bringing her back to him snapping her back to reality, she looked at him awe struck before kissing him passionately. ‘I …’ she was unable to gather her thoughts as she slid down his body and stood shakily on the tiled floor still with her arms around his neck, valiantly attempting to compose herself.

‘I never dreamt that I could feel anything so staggeringly profound as that from a physical act. Bill,’ she whispered, ‘you are amazing. I can’t even really describe how I feel.’ Her eyes were shining, her heart was still racing. ‘Cherie, I am so sorry. I thought…’ he hesitated, ‘I thought for a moment that I had gone too far, I thought that I had lost you.’ She gave him a reassuring smile. ‘I am fine,’ she replied, ‘really. I don’t think that I have ever felt better in my life. A bit tired and shaky though and … I am starving,’ she smiled again this time apologetically. ‘I think that I need some breakfast.’

‘I think that I just had mine.’ He smiled a little ruefully at her before going on. ‘Come on then love, time to get you showered, dried and something to eat.’ She nodded and he lent into her holding her face tenderly as he kissed her gently. ‘Mm, I could stay here forever,’ she purred in his arms. She felt his body responding to her kiss and couldn’t believe that he was aroused again just from her kiss. ‘So all the stories are right, vampires can go all night?’ she said into his mouth, teasing him with her tongue. ‘The hot water will run out if we do,’ he laughed a throaty chuckle, ‘and besides, I thought that you said were starving.’ 

‘Oh I am,’ she murmured seductively to him as she slid down his body onto her knees before looking up at him with a seductive smile playing on the corner of her lips. ‘I am very hungry.’


	15. Chapter 15

‘Here,’ Bill plonked down a jar that he had found when rummaging through Cherie’s kitchen cupboard. ‘Get that onto your toast, it’s full of B vitamins and folic acid, folic acid is an anaemia preventative I believe.’ Cherie raised her eyebrows and picked up the jar of Marmite studying it closely. ‘Umm, what’s this in aid of? I mean I like Marmite occasionally but …’ Bill looked a bit sheepish. ‘You need to build up your vitamin intake that is… well if err, if you would like to see me again and if well…’ The penny dropped and Cherie said nothing but when she picked up the jar and spread lashings of the spread across her toast, he got the message and grinned broadly. 

‘Cheers,’ she saluted him with the toast and took a huge mouthful. ‘I’ll get some multi B vitamins from the health food shop down the High Street in the morning shall I?’ She said with her mouthful and smiling suggestively. He smirked back at her as he casually strolled over to where she stood by the kitchen bench and hugged her to him, licking his finger and nonchalantly brushing a crumb of toast off the corner of her mouth. ‘That would be just what the doctor ordered then love,’ he quipped and pecked her on the cheek. ‘Now I don’t want to rush you but I do have a gig to play at the club tonight so we do need to get a move of then babes.’ ‘We do, do we?’ ‘Well that is if you didn’t have any plans?’ He was looking at her hopefully now and she was melting under his gaze.

Cherie shook her head and smiled. ‘Do you want to see if Gloria and Derrick want to come too, I don’t fancy you sitting there on your own although,’ he went on thoughtfully, ‘I am sure that you wouldn’t be on your own for long and then I would have to come to your rescue.’ She looked at him thinking that he couldn’t be seriously jealous, not after just one night but judging by the look on his face he was so serious that she slipped upstairs immediately and invited the others to come along. 

Gloria and Derrick were full of questions but she just smiled and said that she would fill them in later and told them to hurry as they were now running late and Bill would miss his gig if they didn’t hurry up. ‘Well I like that,’ Gloria laughed, ‘seems to me that if the two of you hadn’t been…’ Cherie gave her a look and she shut up. But she did hear her laughing as she went back downstairs to change. 

They all piled into Bill’s car and made it back to the club with plenty of time to spare. Before going to get changed into his stage outfit Bill introduced Cherie and the others to Tom. ‘Cherie is mine,’ Bill had said to Tom under his breath upon introduction and Cherie had blushed, not quite sure what he meant but noticing immediately that Tom was vampire. She didn’t know how she knew this but she just did. But then for some reason she was noticing a lot of things that she hadn’t before. All her senses seemed to be sharper and she felt like she was, well like she was more alive. She felt prettier than she had ever thought she was too, more confident and assured.

Maybe it was just that she was kind of feeling like she was walking on air, walking in with Bill’s arm wrapped around her. She noticed that every female eye in the club was drawn to him and now, having seen Tom, she knew that the two of them could have had any woman in the whole room. ‘Oh lord spare me,’ Gloria whispered to Cherie at the sight of Tom, ‘two of them, look at them, drop dead gorgeous. There ought to be a law against it. Have you ever seen any two guys so stunning?’ No, Cherie thought, she never had and it was unlikely that she ever would again. 

‘Tom will make sure that you have anything you need when he is not playing, he’ll be doing a few numbers but if there is anything that you need, just ask him or ask for Leon at the bar. I’ll tee it up with him to take care of you when we are both on stage.’ He kissed her on the cheek and left to get changed.

The minute that he was gone Derrick and Gloria began to ply her with questions. ‘So, will he give us an interview? When can we set something up? How long has he been doing this and where did he come from.’ Cherie held up her hand. ‘Enough. Look,’ she pleaded laughing and embarrassed, ‘we didn’t really do a lot of talking about that kind of stuff you know.’ Gloria snorted. ‘You didn’t look like you were doing any kind of talking when I barged in this evening. I am so sorry,’ she was a little red just remembering the sight of Bill’s glorious melon shaped naked buttocks. She moved a little closer to Derrick and much to his surprise, she ran her hand up his thigh. 

‘What the fuck’s gotten into you then?’ he said rather startled but loving it never the less. ‘Nothing,’ Gloria purred back innocently before planting him with a deep kiss. Cherie looked away silently sniggering a little, catching Tom looking across at them as he stood watching from the corner of the stage. She gave him a little wave and he smiled back. Bill was lucky, Tom seemed to be just as nice as Bill was and she had been happy to meet him. He had told her a little about him earlier that evening while she was finishing her toast and he had been talking of the gig tonight, mentioning that he was a distant cousin and a good friend. They were both lucky in that respect, having friends that they were close to and could rely on if things got tough. 

The lights dimmed and the opening bars of the music began with a flourish of Tom on the organ and Bill crooning into the microphone; ‘This one is for Cherie,’ and he looked across to where she was sitting and gave the most enormous wink as he sang The Doors classic, Light My Fire. After that they went through their usual repertoire, then Bill changed things a little again, dedicating the next song in their bracket to ‘a special someone’ much to the nudges of Gloria and Derrick, Cherie blushing profusely when he sang ‘Kiss you all over’ followed by ‘Baby Its You.’ 

The spotlight then moved across the stage and picked out Tom sitting at the keyboard as he announced a special request and encouraged anyone that wanted to get up and dance to get onto the dance floor to shake things up to an old one but a rocking little number as he launched into the opening bars of Give Me Some Loving, the old Spencer Davis song. 

Cherie looked around for Bill, not seeing him on the stage. It took her a moment to spot him but when she did she sucked her breath in as she watched him sauntering across the floor in her direction. The smirk on his face and the swagger of his hips gave testament to his confidence and one look at Cherie and it was plain to see that it was very evidently well founded. The two of them were totally enamoured with each other. 

He moved like molten gold, flowing across the floor towards her, his body still clad in his stage clothes, the open to the waist silk shirt and tight black leather pants with his provocative thick belt propped up on his hips draped over his muscular body like a second skin. His sparkling sapphire eyes seducing her, his lips teasing her with a smile that promised to taste of her sex again, and sometime soon by the look on his face.

‘Holy fuck!’ Gloria breathed in her ear, ‘couldn’t you just eat him with a spoon.’ Without turning her head or taking her eyes off him Cherie whispered, ‘I have.’ The satisfied smile on her face said it all. Gloria looked from one to the other and shook her head. She had never seen anything so sexy in her life as the look on both their faces. You could throw a bucket of water over the two of them and neither would notice, she was thinking as Bill stopped in front of Cherie, lifted her hand to his lips and then gently pulled her to her feet before whisking her onto the dance floor. 

To Bill and Cherie there was not one other person in the club. They were totally oblivious to everyone and everything except the pounding music running through them. As they danced around each other, to everyone else there that watched them mesmerised by what they were witnessing, they may as well have been two mating animals performing some kind of pre sexual mating ritual, they were so blatantly hot for each other that the electricity between them was almost sparking. When Tom sang the chorus ‘Give some loving, every day’ Bill pulled Cherie into him and they were practically grinding their hips together. 

Cherie was wearing her signature perfume Opium by Yves St Laurent and Bill was intoxicated by it. The heat of her body as she danced bought out the alluring fragrance and leaning into her he whispered into her ear. To anyone watching them, and there were few in the room that weren’t, whatever he had said had an immediate effect on her and she simply smouldered in his arms. Gloria, observing this leant over to Derrick remarking to him, ‘They are so going to give each other a pounding after this.’ He smirked back suggestively, ‘They won’t be the only ones,’ and Gloria thrilled to his words.

The music faded and the lights dimmed and went out for a moment at the end of the song. When they came back up Bill and Cherie were nowhere to be seen and Tom was thanking the audience and wishing them a good night before leaving the stage and coming quickly over to Derrick and Gloria, offering them a lift home as Bill was a little tied up and Cherie was fine but wouldn’t be coming home tonight he told them with a knowing smirk. When Derrick protested and said they would call a cab, Tom wouldn’t hear of it and insisted on running them home. 

By the time that Tom got back, Bill and Cherie were thoroughly ensconced in the bedroom and as Tom wanted to give them some privacy, once the club was closed for the night and he had locked up, he bunkered down in the small but luxuriously appointed staff room at the back of the bar. 

Picturing Cherie in Bill’s arms, his last thoughts before the dawn pulled him into the darkness and he drifted off were of what a lucky sod Bill was meeting her, Cherie was just wonderful.


	16. Chapter 16

‘I could so get used to this,’ Bill murmured softly as he reached over and kissed Cherie good evening when they awoke the next night. The previous night had been a blur after he whisked her off the dance floor and upstairs to his apartment. ‘I want to give you some loving every day,’ he had whispered so seductively into her ear while they were dancing that her whole body shook with anticipation, his face remaining a picture of innocence that somehow made his words even more erotic, if that was truly possible. ‘You know that I am going to kiss you all over ….’ his lips were on hers, his tongue lapping at her to make his point very clear as he led her to his bedroom.

Where Tom’s room was purple, dark grey and silver themed, Bill’s was a combination of late seventies modern with luxury chic, the walls painted a deep ruby red on three sides, the fourth wall behind the huge bed was papered with red wallpaper overlaid with a black pattern that was an art deco theme with a modern twist. Like Tom’s room, hanging from the ceiling behind the bed was another huge mirror, this one however was in an art deco theme rather than mosaic and it was spectacular. 

Bedside tables graced each side of the bed in the obligatory black gloss and chrome and both adorned with red bubble lamps that gave off a subtle muted light. The bed was covered in an inches thick silk black doona, the latest rage in bed covers, and had matching red and black scatter cushions and bolsters piled deeply and invitingly at the head of the bed. 

In one corner of the room was a chunky black leather comfortable looking chair with a small table next to it, a reading lamp with a black shade and a book sitting sedately waiting for him to finish it when he had the time and the inclination, and on the opposite side of the room a set of black lacquered screens concealed the entrance to his sumptuously appointed en suite. The only other adornment to the room, which to Cherie’s eyes seemed a little out of place, was a pair of ancient looking tapestries. They had been a gift from Tom, one which he had been forced to break into his family home in the dead of night to retrieve along with other personal belongings. 

Bill had gone with him for fear that Tom may have had an encounter with Robert but there was no sign of him, the place being boarded up while the Trustees that had been appointed to take over the estate sorted things out. Even a run in with the security guard that had been appointed to patrol the estate was easily sorted with a bit of glamouring so that they had come away with everything that Tom had wanted. As an afterthought he had run back inside to carefully take down the tapestries as gift for Bill. Something from the old country that he thought he would enjoy. One day he intended to tell him the history behind them, he felt sure that he would enjoy hearing it but in the mean time they hung resplendently on his bedroom walls opposite each other. 

Their lips were locked together in a passionate kiss as Bill half walked, half carried her to the bed and laid her on it, covering her body with his. She was wriggling under him, trying to get the zip of his tight leather pants down over the bulge of his hardened member but the leather was stretched so tight now with his hardness that there was hardly any room to manoeuvre. She gave a whimper of frustration and he quickly slid his hand down and forced the zip open. He groaned loudly as she stroked him. 

‘Babes don’t.’ She looked sharply up from beneath him, a worried look in her eyes. ‘Don’t even think about it, if you do I swear I am going to explode if you keep it up.’ It was her turn to groan at the sound of his words. A wave of wetness soaked through her, her little lace panties moistening. He slid his hand down to cup her gently and felt the wetness and it was almost too much for him. Moving his hand he reached under the flimsy lace and gave a yank before dropping the purple piece of fluff on the floor. With one slick movement he was in her.

That was enough to set her on a new wave of moaning, each murmur spurring him on. They were like two animals in heat together, oblivious to everything around them, with him thrusting into her and her body reaching up to meet him. She was so wet he was almost slipping out of her. That turned him on. He was so turned on by her, as much as she was by him. He only had to look at her with that seductive small curve of his lips and she knew he wanted to take her. It was so erotic that she melted thinking about it.   
‘Bill’ she purred as his thrusts quickened and she felt that delicious moment when he thickened within her ready to reach his orgasm. 

She lost her head and began to moan his name in earnest now. She felt her muscles begin to cave and so did Bill, his fangs hovering over her ample breasts ready to strike. When they were both on the edge, no longer able to hold back, he bit into her soft tender flesh just as she too was unable to stop herself and she bit into his wrist where he was holding her face, pulling gently at the soft underside of his skin till tiny punctures oozed droplets of his blood spilling into her mouth and she sucked greedily on it. ‘Oh god,’ he gasped and convulsed into her hot wet flesh over and over with each pull on his wrist, lapping at her breast and sucking on her like a greedy child. Their orgasms seemed to go on endlessly until he collapsed onto her, pouring his very soul into her.

She lay sleepily in his arms, catching her breath as he gently stroked her. ‘Why me?’ she asked gently. Bill rolled onto his side and looked down at her, searching her face, a serious look on his own face. ‘Why did you choose to share yourself, your true self with me?’ He brushed a lock of her hair out of her eyes where the silken thread had fallen before answering. ‘Why did you choose to accept me for what I am? You could have, you should have been terrified, but you weren’t. Do you know how long it has been since a woman looked at me with anything but disgust or horror on their face when they have seen the creature within me?’ 

Bill turned away as pink tears misted his eyes and gently fell on his face. He turned back to her then. ‘You see, you see that not even now can I be a normal man,’ the tears leaving a bloody trail down his cheeks. ‘Oh Bill.’ His words tore at her, breaking her heart for him. Gently she reached up and traced the line of them wiping them away. She kissed him tenderly. ‘You are more of a man than anyone I have met. You are beautiful in every sense of the word Bill. I have never felt safer or more cared for than I do with you.’

They lay there clinging to each other until Cherie fell asleep in Bill’s arms and the dawn took him to that other world that no human could follow, resting peacefully with no dreams to haunt him, no dark thoughts chasing him through the coldness of his night. If Cherie felt safe and cared for he would never be able to find the words to tell her how meeting her had made him feel whole again, human again and worthwhile. How do you tell someone that you have felt dead for years, decades even and now you are reborn? How do you thank someone for caring for you when you don’t think that you deserve to feel that way? He couldn’t and never would be able to, only another vampire would understand and then only if they too despised themselves as much as he did. 

Tom, Tom would understand. He would know.


	17. Chapter 17

Days and nights turned into weeks and months and the relationship between Cherie and Bill grew as did the blood bond between them. Derrick and Gloria had given up months ago attempting to get Bill to do an interview. Cherie had very cleverly she thought, come up with an excuse as to why he did not want to be interviewed. She told them that he was there in the country illegally and that any publicity may bring the authorities down on his back and that would be the last thing that any of them wanted. ‘Well if he is here illegally and not a British subject, you could always get married and that would solve the problem,’ Gloria quipped, ‘it always works in the movies.’ She was laughing but half wondered if they would ever take their relationship further. They were inseparable and it was so plain that they were such a couple and perfectly suited. 

She noticed that Cherie went very quiet after this conversation and when Derrick got up to make a brew she lowered her voice before saying, ‘Look you do know that I was only being flippant don’t you. I mean it would be great if the two of you did hook up but…’ She looked closely at Cherie, ‘I’m sorry really it’s none of my business.’ Cherie looked at her. ‘You know how I really love kids, Bill can’t have any and besides,’ Cherie murmured, ‘the subject has never come up ok.’ Gloria shrugged. ‘Would that really make a difference, I mean if you really love each other, about kids I mean?’ Cherie looked back at Gloria with an expression that she couldn’t quite fathom, there was more to it she felt than just the issue of having kids she thought to herself but she said nothing. She changed the conversation but she was hurting for her friend.

Tom too was an integral part of their lives together. The three of them seemed to be devoted to each other. Cherie certainly felt that Tom was as close to Bill as a brother and Bill, even though not looking much older than Tom, he almost treated Tom like a father or a mentor would. It was a very touching relationship that they shared and one that she delighted in. Whenever Bill was on stage and Tom wasn’t, he would be by her side taking care of her, sharing jokes, stories and observations about the music industry or articles that she wrote. They had a lot in common, shared the same tastes in so many things just as she did with Bill, and they got on like a house on fire. 

Really the two vampires were so similar that it was surprising they weren’t brothers, she marvelled one night when they were both on stage and she sat at the bar watching them, smiling to herself. They had had a great night up to a point the night before when they took a break from the club and went out to the movies, the three of them passionate about them. Bill in particular loved them, he had been fascinated with them since their inception and was besotted with all things to do with them and acting in particular. He would make a great actor she thought, both Tom and herself could attest to how very good he was at accents, anyone with the Southern accent he had that could mask it as effectively as he did deserved an Emmy at least, if not an Oscar. 

They had been to see Midnight Express, one of Cherie’s favourite movies. It was playing at a small independent theatre that specialised in running after midnight screenings of movies that had been hits in the previous years and that had a cult following, and this was one of them. Neither Bill nor Tom had seen it before as they had been so busy over the last few years that for some reason they had missed it. They both loved it to pieces. ‘Isn’t it great?’ Cherie had enthused from the back seat, sitting in Bill’s arms as Tom drove them back to their place. ‘And isn’t the music something, the sound track is brilliant. We should play it at the club, it would get everyone up and dancing.’ 

‘As the night is leaving, silently retreating down an empty hall,’ Bill began to softly sing the love theme from the movie, his arms wrapped around Cherie as she sat mesmerised by his melodic voice. There was something about the lyrics that hit a core with them. Although they never spoke of it, Cherie felt the pain of their circumstances. She knew that like Bill, Tom was just as despairing at times of his situation. She had found him once crying, his wracking, shuddering, painful sobs tearing through her as much as his tear stained face did. She held him for what seemed like hours until he quietened. She never said a word to him, she didn’t need to, she understood and he appreciated it.

‘Until we never say goodbye, then I will keep the sun for you.’ Bill’s voice trailed off. Leaning into his face, she kissed him tenderly on the cheek. Bill turned to her and his lips met hers, brushing them. There was no passion or urgency in the kiss. A sadness had engulfed them all, unspoken but hovering about them like a cloud. Their eyes met Tom’s in the review mirror of the car as he looked back at them for a fleeting second and there was a multitude of emotions in that look. 

The words of the song had hit home to them all. The lyrics could have been written for their very situation. Cherie, although naturally curious about Bill’s nature, had deliberately not intruded on his privacy, hoping that if he wanted to share his feelings he would. He didn’t often talk of it but there had been times when he had opened his heart to her and told her of his inner most thoughts. He had spilled his feelings to her one night when holding her after another night of incredible love making. He had talked of his grief at the loss of his wife and children and of his loneliness, the years rolling on and on into eternity without those that he came to care for, the only constellation now was having Tom with him at his side. And he talked of simply missing the sun on his skin, warm and bright, the blue of the sky, the green of the trees on a bright spring day when he used to do tend his fields. He would never have that again and he missed it, it was like a hunger or a thirst that could never be quenched. The song reinforced the melancholia of their existence. 

Parking the car in the underground garage Bill had now had commissioned for his and Tom’s cars, they all got out and with Cherie surrounded by them both, their arms securely around her, they made their way up to the apartment without a word and into Bill’s bedroom before climbing into bed together, holding and comforting each other until the dawn pulled them into darkness. 

Cherie was musing over the last 24 hours, watching Bill and Tom on the stage captivating the audience with their talent when a voice close to her ear broke into her thoughts. ‘That outfit looks great on you but it would look better on my bedroom floor,’ and an arm slid tightly around her waist running down to her buttocks with an iron like grip, almost pulling her off the bar stool she was sitting on. She turned her head sharply to look into the darkest pair of eyes she had ever seen. In the dim light of the club the deep muddy brown pupils looked almost black and she involuntarily shuddered at the sight of the coldness staring back at her. 

On stage Bill felt a wave of unease flood through him and searching the room for Cherie, he spotted trouble. She was clearly shaken and he could feel it. Tom felt something too and noticing that something was amiss with Bill, looked through the crowd to see what he was looking at. He blanched when he spotted Cherie. 

It was not the fact that it was obvious from Bill’s reaction that something was wrong; it was the sight of the person standing talking animatedly with her, his arm around Cherie, her face a mask of fear and displeasure. It was the face that gave him the most cause for concern as it was a face that he knew so well and he was never likely to forget the last time he had seen it. 

The face belonged to Robert, his brother and his maker.


	18. Chapter 18

Bill caught the look on Tom’s face and took the opportunity during the instrumental bars of the song they were playing to lean down close to Tom’s face. ‘What is it, what is wrong apart from the obvious?’ He was anxious to end the song and get over to Cherie without drawing any attention but the look on Tom’s face was raising even more concerns for him. He had not seen him look like that since the night that he had found him.

‘It’s Robert.’ Bill looked at him with a fury that Tom had not witnessed before. ‘Don’t do anything, I can deal with this,’ Tom urged. Bill shook his head. ‘You can’t, he is your maker and you can’t go against him. I am your elder and his, and besides,’ he said with rather a pleased look on his face now, ‘this is my club after all and she is MINE, and I have every right to evict anyone that it pleases me to evict.’ He was spoiling for a fight. No one had the right to touch Cherie and clearly she was scared.

Bill had two reasons to be seething, one was the memory of the pathetic state that he had found Tom in and the other was the way he could see Robert pawing at Cherie. Leon the barman was doing his utmost to dissuade Robert from his pursuit of her but he was ham strung by the fact that there were humans in the club and he knew that the last thing that Bill or Tom would want was an incident and besides, although Robert was not that old in vampire terms, there was something inherently so nasty about his nature that told Leon to beware.

At the end of the number Bill announced that they were going to take a break and urged everyone to kick back, get some drinks in and enjoy the night. Moving swiftly through the crowd at human pace least he draw any attention, he was beside Cherie just as Robert attempted to glamour her. ‘She is MINE.’ Bill’s voice in Robert’s ear came filtering through the back ground music, full of so much menacing threat that for once Robert was taken by surprise. He looked Bill up and down, evaluating the seriousness of the danger from the older vampire. 

Robert must have thought that he had bitten off a little bit more than he could chew when he summed up the situation and took a step backwards away from Cherie but in his haste he had not seen Tom slipping quietly up from behind and he stepped straight back into him standing silently looking at him. Robert was truly shaken.

‘You, you’re alive.’ Robert’s voice had now totally lost the confidence that had been evident previously when he had been making his move on Cherie. Looking more closely at Tom, his demeanour rapidly changed and Robert then sneered, ‘Ah no, you are not alive I see. You should be dead, I thought that I had killed you and yet here you are one of the living dead. Will I never be free of you? Now I am bound to run into you over and over for all eternity.’ 

The venomous sound of his words stabbed like a knife through Tom, reliving the hurt of his turning and the hatred behind the act. Bloody tears sprang to his eyes and not wanting to be seen like this by any humans present, he fled. ‘That’s right,’ Robert taunted after him, ‘run like that frightened rabbit that you have always been, only difference is that you haven’t got our parents to run to now to protect you from me.’

Cherie sat horrified by the conversation, her heart breaking for Tom but more than that, she watched Bill’s reaction as his face went deadly white with fury and that scared her more than anything that she knew. ‘Take care of Tom,’ Bill said quietly to her without taking his eyes off Robert. She hesitated, about to say something when Bill turned flashing eyes on her and spat out in a voice that she didn’t recognise, ‘do as I say, go now.’ She was taken aback. He had never used that tone of voice to her and it shocked her. ‘Now!’ he reiterated. He gently but firmly lifted her off the bar stool and propelled her in the direction that Tom had gone.

‘Now,’ Bill turned his attention back to Robert, ‘what say you and I continue this discussion somewhere a little more private shall we?’ Before Robert knew it, Bill had him in a vice like gripe and was half lifting and half dragging him towards the back of the bar and out through a door that led to the corridor adjoining the underground garage to the rest of the club. Only Bill, Tom and Cherie had access to it so it was perfectly private and secure. There would be no witnesses to the conversation and if any questions were ever asked, Bill could truthfully say that Robert was just another one of those patrons that got a bit out of hand and had to be removed. 

The moment the door had closed and was secured behind him, Bill grabbed Robert’s throat and his fangs ran out to their full extent. ‘You have no idea who I am, do you?’ Even now, although cowed, Robert still did not realise the full extent of his danger but remained cocky, if not downright insulting in his response. ‘Why the fuck would I give a toss who you are?’ Bill gave a small smile more dangerous than Robert could ever realise. ‘My name is Compton, William Thomas Compton,’ he said losing his East End accent and letting his voice drawl out the words in his full southern bur. 

Robert’s eyes narrowed a little and he stared hard at Bill with a look on his face that gave Bill pause for thought. For a fleeting moment he had the distinct impression that Robert recognised his name but how could that be, no he must be mistaken.

‘Am I supposed to be impressed?’ Robert responded with a small snicker. Bill shook his head. ‘No, not impressed dear cousin but respectful of your elders for a start and secondly, you have to answer for what you have done to Thomas.’ Robert’s face reflected astonishment now. ‘What’s it to you whatever is between Thomas and I. It’s none of your business cousin.’ He almost spat the words back into Bill’s face. ‘Now you see that is where you are mistaken Robert. You see, apart from being a very distant cousin, it was me that found Thomas starving and dying after you abandoned him, leaving him discarded like a chicken bone and all for your quest for what, revenge? Revenge for the fact that your parents preferred him to you in your small pathetic mind?’

Bill tightened his grip on Robert’s throat. His eyes glazed over as the fury he felt at seeing Thomas in such a forlorn state the night he had found him, it all came bubbling up to overwhelm his sensibilities. ‘Yes, revenge. From the minute he was born I never meant a thing to my parents, they never even knew I existed once their precious Thomas came into being. I was never good enough for them even before he was born but after…. I meant nothing to them. I hated them and I hated him.’ 

Bill shook his head. ‘You know that is not true. Tom has told me that as the first born you had every comfort, care and love from your parents but it was never enough. Oh yes, he has told me of his childhood and he has told me of growing up and then, when your parents were killed he told me of your treatment of him. While all of that was bad enough I can understand it to a degree, sibling rivalry and all but what you did to him when you turned him…’

‘I did no more than my maker did for me… left me after three weeks barely with enough knowledge to fend for myself. But then you see, I was such a disappointment to her too. She had been expecting to find a Compton that would very much resemble another Compton that she knew, a William Thomas Compton from a little place by the name of Bon Temps, Louisiana.’

‘You see, Lorena just couldn’t seem to get you out of her mind.’


	19. Chapter 19

Lorena had never in all the many years of being a vampire, felt as lost and bereft as she did right at the moment when Bill had virtually banished her from his life that fateful night long ago. If she was truthful, she had felt lonely at times before making Bill, but that was more because of a hunger than loneliness. She had tried to persuade herself that night nearly one hundred and twenty years ago, when he had knocked on the cabin door, that her whole existence had changed and that she had found her soul mate, if a dead creature could have a soul that is. Of all the stragglers that had stumbled upon that humble cabin, that charnel slaughter house, none had been a patch on her Bill, her William Thomas Compton. He was moral, gallant and above all, he had something that was rare in those days of war and hunger and emptiness, he had dignity and compassion. 

Bill was everything to her and now he had condemned her to an existence of loneliness again. She had disappeared out of his life, fleeing into the night to wander the world in search of something, anything that would replace the loss that she felt every time she thought of him. She was looking for a morsel that would allow her to feel again after so much emptiness, so she roamed aimlessly for year after year until her wanderings took her to England and there, by pure chance, she found something that peaked her interest. 

Settling in London, Lorena was never one to embrace new technology but setting herself up in a richly appointed apartment with all mod cons, money never being an issue for one as resourceful as her, her attention was captured when one evening before going out to feed she happened to be channel surfing and she came across a TV series that had more than its share of good looking males in the cast. Never one to turn away from appreciating the finer things in the male form, she became engrossed in the episode and it was then that her path and that of a total stranger, was to take a strange and dark twist. She had found a possible way back to Bill of sorts.

The historical period drama was full of the most delicious young males that she had seen for a while but it wasn’t the actors that drew her attention. Based loosely on historical figures, what really captured her was one in particular, a certain William Compton. She sat mesmerised as she watched the episode and immediately sent out for the series to be bought to her on video tape, the latest craze to sweep the world. The rest of her night was solely devoted to watching anything in the show that would shed some light on ‘William’, his place in history and the absolute coincidence that somehow, somewhere in this country, there may be relatives still living that would perhaps lead her back to him or at least present a replacement in her path. She had to know, she had to find out and she knew that night that she would do anything in her power to find a link no matter how remote. 

‘Lorena had done her research well and ended up here tracking down any living relations in the hope to replicate whatever it was that she thought she was missing.’ Robert continued on, ‘She came here one night when I was alone, knocking on the door and claiming a distant relationship. I was intrigued by this exotic woman. She was so very beautiful and any man would be a fool not to invite her in and hope for some conversation, if not more,’ he leered. ‘I of course was fascinated when she spoke of being a relative from the Southern states. I know our family tree and I know that there was a line in the family that did make the journey to the states several centuries ago so I thought that even if she was a relative well, it would be so distant that it didn’t really matter. I was so enamoured by her right from the start. I wanted her.’

‘We talked for many hours late into the night. Things seemed to be going along perfectly well until…’ his face contorted at his remembrance of the event, ‘until that is, she noticed a family picture on the piano, a group shot that I had only kept because it was the last photo ever of my parents, and of course Tom was in it. From the moment that she saw him she wanted to know about him. Here it was again, he didn’t even have to be there and he was ruining my life. Just looking at him compared to me was enough to have swayed her.’ 

‘I could have had her, I could have made her like me but no, she had seen Tom and I knew, I knew just by the look on her face. She told me later after…’ he hesitated, not even going into the account of his turning, ‘she said that the photo of Tom, for just one fleeting moment, had reminded her of you. I had no idea of who you were or where you were, and I didn’t care. Despite being turned you would think that I would hate her but I didn’t. At first I think that she thought she could make me be you or Tom or whatever it was she was looking for but like everyone else that has ever been in my life, she grew weary of me after a few weeks and she left after learning that Tom and I were estranged. Perhaps she thought that she would get to know him through me but when it became clear that it was not ever going to be the case, she simply got in her car and vanished.’

‘She left me to fend for myself. I barely knew how to survive; the few hunting expeditions that we had been on in the local environs had merely been to get feed for her. I was starving and she cared little for that fact. She offered me sloppy seconds. SLOPPY SECONDS!!!! Me the first born son reduced to this.' He was seething as he spoke, white dots of spittle at the corners of his mouth his rage was so great. 'When Tom arrived I saw my chance for my ultimate revenge. Finally I would be able to get back at him for all the misery that I had been through in my whole human life.’ Robert’s face had turned into an ugly mask of hatred now. ‘So you see,’ he laughed manically, ‘indirectly it is you to blame for Tom being turned. Let that be my revenge.’

Bill was rocked by this but still he held him tightly in his strong hands, his face only inches away as he went on relentlessly. ‘If Lorena had not come looking for a Compton relation to make her own as a replacement for you, then I would not have been turned and your precious Tom would still be walking around human. How does that make you feel, responsible or perhaps even guilty? Revenge is sweet when it is best served cold and now I have seen the results, I can rest content.’

‘You are right about revenge,’ Bill’s voice rasped as he tightened his grip on Robert’s throat and lifted him off his feet, carrying him along the passage to the garage. ‘From the moment that I found Tom, even before knowing who he was or what had happened, I felt nothing but disgust for the vampire that had done this to him. I am not a vengeful person but you have no idea how close you are to meeting the sun.’ 

Robert spluttered into laughter now. ‘Lorena may not have taught me much but I have learnt so very much in the time since then as I struggled to survive. I know one thing, your threats are empty. You can’t do anything to me, you would have to answer to higher authorities for any actions. Neither you nor my wimp of a brother can touch me. And as for that pretty little thing at the bar that you seem to be fond of, well, you can’t be around all the time so you are going to have to watch out for her and for my pathetic excuse of a brother for that matter or I will …’ 

He never got the next words out of his mouth. At the threat to both Cherie and Tom, Bill was overcome by darkness and while still holding Robert with one hand, he reached across and picked up a cricket bat that Tom and he used to play with when the mood took them and the club was empty, the dance floor used as an impromptu pitch. He smashed the bat against the wall leaving only the remains of the wooden handle and with one swift blow, he staked him, standing perfectly still while he watched him turning into a pile of goo before his eyes. 

Even moving at vamp speed it took Bill some time to clean up the mess that was Robert’s dismal remains, all the while agonising over his actions and the truth behind Tom’s turning. Was there ever to be an end to the misery that Lorena and he had indirectly caused? How could he now face Tom knowing that if not for her obsession over him then Tom would be living a normal life, looking forward to settling down with the right girl and having children, his whole future ahead of him? 

He was not sorry that he had rid the world of Robert and all his misery, the threat to those that Bill cared for more than anything else in the world was just too great, but killing had never sat well on his shoulders, not since he had freed himself from Lorena’s clutches. Freed himself, would he ever be free from her and her actions.

He was hurrying now, wanting to get back to Cherie and Tom and yet fearful of facing both of them. He would have questions to answer and truths to be told and he simply didn’t know what he would say. He loved them both and never wanted to hurt either of them but knew that they both deserved the truth, even if it meant that he lost them. Would Tom be able to forgive him for his circumstances and would Cherie ever be able to understand and accept that he had killed? 

He sighed, squared his shoulders and prepared to face them both.


	20. Chapter 20

Cherie’s legs were shaking as she followed after Tom. By the time she got upstairs her whole body was trembling. Bill had never spoken to her like that. He had never been anything but what she liked to think of as “normal” in his temperament, as odd as that may sound to others, but the way that he had reacted at the bar left her reeling. For the first time she had seen his darkness, not the sexual kind of darkness that she had become accustomed to, that was different and she understood that but his inner darkness, the otherness that he had hidden so well from her. She would never forget the look in his eyes when he had turned to her; they were like a stranger’s. She didn’t recognise them. 

The living room was empty when she got there but then she knew it would be and didn’t even bother to look around, instead heading straight for Tom’s room. Without even knocking on the door she walked in and fell into his arms as he sat on the bed crying. ‘You must think that I am so weak,’ Tom muttered embarrassed by his emotions. ‘Look at me,’ she said to him and she placed her hand on his face and gently drew it up so that he had to face her. ‘I don’t think any such thing, quite the opposite in fact. I feel for you, I feel the pain that you are going through and there is nothing wrong with that. I am glad that you aren’t some cold heartless bastard that couldn’t give a shit.’ 

‘He is my maker and I felt him, a pulling running right through me but even more than that, he is still my brother and despite what he has done to me and how much he hates me, I can’t hate him,’ he said simply. Cherie was still trembling and sitting so close to Tom he felt her. ‘You’re shaking,’ he said quickly wrapping his arm around her and drawing her in to him to comfort her. The events of the last half an hour finally taking their toll on her and tears began to course down her cheeks. ‘Heh, please don’t cry. It’s all right, everything will be all right. Bill can take care of himself.’

She gave a small sob and he pulled her even closer to him. ‘Bill has never spoken to me that way. I have never seen that side of him, his…’ She suddenly realised what she had been about to say and couldn’t finish it. ‘You mean you had never seen his vampire nature other than well… umm,’ Tom was embarrassed but ploughed on feeling that Cherie needed honesty rather than tact, ‘ I am assuming in the bedroom?’ Cherie went bright red and if it had been anyone else that had said that she would have told them to sod off and mind their own business but Tom wasn’t just anyone, she was almost as close to him as she was to Bill and right, now she needed someone that understood and that she could talk to.

‘Cherie love, Bill couldn’t take any chances with Robert. You have no idea of what he may be capable of. He needed to get you out of there and as far away as possible and as quickly as possible. Plus, he didn’t want there to be a scene. We can’t afford to have any slip ups here at the club. You know that love don’t you?’ She saw the sense in what he was saying but it had still been a shock to her. Despite knowing him on such an intimate basis and accepting him for what he was, because she had never seen that other side of him it did make her question whether she really knew him at all. She felt guilty even thinking like this. She knew he was a good man, loving, caring and compassionate, sensual and articulate but the other side of him, well she wondered then how he had managed to keep that from her. ‘I know Tom but well, you’re not like that.’ 

Tom scoffed. ‘Trust me Cherie if Bill or,’ he hesitated, ‘or anyone that I loved were to be threatened, then yes, I would be exactly like that. Just the thought of Robert pawing at you makes me …’ His fangs snicked into place and she drew back shocked. She had never seen a vampire’s fangs close up other than Bill’s and she sat there staring at him. There was something inherently intimate in the moment, something about it that left Cherie confused and a little dazed. ‘I would kill anyone without hesitation that was going to hurt you or Bill.’ His passionate reaction startled her. 

He immediately regretted it and quickly drew his fangs in. ‘You have to know that neither one of us could or ever would, let anything happen to you and we would do anything to keep you safe. Bill is not like other vampires and neither am I. We hate being what we are. There are those that embrace it, love the darkness, the debauchery but that isn’t either one of us. You don’t know that side of them, it is … disgusting. They have no care or compassion for their victims. Humans are just a commodity, a quick feed and sex. That isn’t how either one of us feels but Cherie despite that, you have to realise that we are vampire, we do have a darkness that dwells just below the surface and is always there bubbling away.’

‘Perhaps we have been wrong in protecting you from that side of things. The vampires that come here to the club all share the same beliefs that we do. It is a growing movement but we feel that the old ways are, apart from anything else, they are short sighted. There are more humans than there are vampires and we are so vulnerable during the daylight. If humans were to know of our existence then there would be hell to pay. We would be hunted down and exterminated and I can’t say that that would be wrong, but not all of us are the monsters that they think. We believe that it is possible to exist alongside humans peacefully or that is what we dream of.’

Cherie nodded thoughtfully. She had heard Bill and Tom talking like this before. It made sense to her. Why couldn’t they live together and up until tonight she had thought that it would be possible but then meeting Robert and seeing his darkness, the brutality that she recognised in his eyes, she wondered if could ever happen. They were dead eyes, soulless. Would it be possible, would those others, those vampires that had such little regard for humans fall in with this way of thinking? She very much doubted it.

Tom sensed her doubt and wanted desperately for her to understand, to have hope in their dream. ‘You do know that Bill or I would never hurt you don’t you?’ he asked urgently, lifting her chin up so that she had to look into his eyes. ‘I know and Tom,’ she whispered softly, ‘thanks.’ ‘We’re a right pair aren’t we,’ he replied quietly. She looked at his tear stained face and reached into the pocket of her jeans, pulling out a clean tissue that she had before dabbing his face as best as she could. ‘You know you are a pretty special person. Bill is lucky that he found you. I know that he loves you like a brother and more.’ 

‘I love Bill, without him I don’t know what would have happened to me. I think that I would not have survived but it was more than just him finding me and literally saving me. He has been like the maker that I should have had but didn’t. He is the brother that I wish that I had had. I would do anything for him and as far as I am concerned, I would lay down my life for him. I just hope that he knows that.’

‘I owe him so much.’


	21. Chapter 21

‘You owe me nothing Tom.’ Bill had been standing in the doorway of the bedroom and had overheard this part of the conversation between Cherie and Tom. It touched him to the core. He had no idea how on earth he was going to tell him, tell them both not only what he had done but what Robert had told him. The pain that the truth was going to cause him, and all of them, was almost too much for him to contemplate. 

At the sound of Bill’s voice Cherie looked up sharply then getting up, she ran into Bill’s arms. ‘Oh Bill are you alright? What happened, where is Robert?’ Looking over her shoulder, he could see Tom’s face asking the same questions but then a look of comprehension spread over his face, comprehension and almost relief Bill thought. Disentangling Cherie’s arms from around his neck, he took her hand and led her over to the bed and sat her down next to Tom. ‘I need to talk to you both and seeing that we have no secrets from each other, I think that I owe both of you an explanation and you should hear it together. 

Cherie swallowed hard, she didn’t know why but the serious tone in Bill’s voice made her very apprehensive. Tom, on the other hand, kept his face a blank mask. Without pulling any punches Bill told them what had happened, leaving out nothing but never taking his eyes off the two of them, watching closely for their reactions. It was hard to tell which he was more worried about, Cherie and the fact that he was admitting that he had committed murder or Tom and the dawning realisation that his whole vampire existence was a sole result of Lorena’s obsession with him and her desire to replicate something that she could never have. Either way, he felt abjectly sorry for both of them. 

‘Well,’ Tom said as Bill stood facing them, his cold dead heart nearly breaking at the thought of losing one or both of them, ‘there is only one thing for it then.’ Bill looked at him questioningly. ‘We will have to get a new cricket bat.’ And with that Tom got up and hugged Bill. ‘Did you think that I would blame you for what Lorena or Robert did you stupid sod. You have given me more love than I ever had in my entire life from Robert. I love you mate, nothing, and I really mean nothing, is ever going to change that.’ 

Cherie stood up too, looking him straight in the eyes as she stepped in to hug him too and said, ‘You did the right thing. It was the only thing to do.’ The three of them stood for minutes just holding one another. They had an inseparable bond that had been tested and found to be strong enough to withstand more than Bill could ever have imaged. 

The relief he was feeling poured through him and through the blood bond that he had with Cherie. She looked up at him and saw the tension oozing out of him. She suddenly realised how very hard it must have been for someone like Bill to have taken the action that he did and how much it must have weighed on his mind. Not just the fact that he had inadvertently been responsible for Tom’s turning but that he had been so distressed about what her reaction to his killing Robert would be. 

She admitted to herself that she didn’t know a lot about vampires, tonight had been an example really of that but she knew enough about Bill now to know that she considered herself to be one of the luckiest woman alive. She had found someone that had morals far and above the norm. As she looked at him now, a wave of the deepest love poured out through her. Bill felt it and looked back into her eyes, as he too poured out his soul into her, into the bond. 

They each broke away from the other and Bill gently took her hand, leading her off towards his bedroom. When they got to the door they both turned back to look at Tom, ‘Good night Tom, and thank you for being here for us, for both of us,’ Cherie said with heartfelt thanks. ‘Night mate,’ Bill smiled, ‘see you tomorrow night.’ Tom nodded and smiled wistfully after them before settling down to finish reading Cherie’s copy of Midnight Express that she had lent him. He was a speed reader so it would only take him a short time and he really needed to unwind. He had a lot to think about.

When finally alone in his bedroom, Bill took Cherie in his arms and carried her over to the bed, lying her down before sitting down beside her. He took her hand and lifting it he kissed it, not in a sexual way but every bit as intimately. She sat up and was in his arms in an instant. Her arms twined around his neck, her lips frantically searching for his. ‘Bill I…’ He raised his finger to her lips and shushed her then smothered her in kisses, kissing her mouth, her cheeks and her eyes. He ran his fingers down through her silken hair, grabbing a handful and gently pulling her closer into the embrace.

‘You know that I love you don’t you?’ she asked trembling at her own words as he held her tightly to him. He pulled away a little to gaze into her eyes. It had been so long, decades since anyone had said that to him, not since … no he couldn’t think of it, he wouldn’t think of Morocco, not now. This was now, nineteen eighty one and he was living in the present, not the past. The past had long enough shadows to intrude on the here and now as it was, tonight was just one example of how the past catches up and holds you in its clutches but right now, right at this moment all he wanted was to feel her love for him and his for her.

He ran his long fingers down her cheek, tenderly brushing a silken strand of her hair out of her eyes. He loved the way that it fell around her face, loved touching the soft silken threads that always seemed to caress her cheeks. ‘I love you Cherie.’ There, he had said it. Finally he had said it. He could not hold back and despite his fears that he was not good enough for her, not deserving enough, he could not hold back any longer what he had felt since the night that they had met and she had taken such a chance on him. 

‘I want you to listen to me and not say anything till I finish.’ She was about to protest but again he quietened her with his fingers to her lips. ‘I don’t ever want you to have to see or go through what you did tonight. I don’t ever want you to doubt me. I want you to be honest with me now. Tell me, were you scared of me tonight, scared by my true nature. I want you to be honest with me, please.’ 

‘Bill I was shocked that you spoke to me like that. You have never talked like that to me but I know why you did it. I also know that you are worried or were worried that I would hate you for what you did to Robert but I can’t ever hate you. I want to try to understand that other part of you. I want you to share that with me so that I know what it is, this dark passenger that you carry with you. I love you, all of you so that includes your other self but I need to understand what it is that I am loving. You don’t need to protect me from you, you need to let me in so I can love all of you.’

‘I know that you hate that other side of you, I know how it eats you at times but Bill, I am here for you, I am not going to leave so you have to get used to it. Unless,’ she hesitated, clearly an idea had struck her that she hadn’t thought of before, ‘unless you don’t want me.’ She said this in such a small lost voice that he was stricken. How could she ever dream that he didn’t want her? He wanted her alright. He wanted every inch of her, he wanted her heart and he wanted her soul but he felt that he had no right to her. What could he offer her, he was one of the dammed, the undead, that is no future for her. She should walk in the sun with her children and grandchildren around her. 

‘I have no right to want you,’ he said sadly. ‘Bill, that isn’t up to you, that is up to me to decide isn’t it. I have told you before, I told you that you are more of a man, and I feel safer with you, than with any other man that I have ever met. I love you Bill Compton, and I don’t give a rats toss who or what you are. You are mine, right now, right this minute and I am yours if you want me.’

Taking her in his arms he gently laid her down before lying down next to her. ‘I want you, trust me I so want you,’ he whispered and covered her in tender kisses to prove his point.


	22. Chapter 22

‘What are the two of you on about then?’ Bill questioned as he walked into the living room one night several months later. It was July of nineteen eighty one and a fine Summer night, the sky inky and clear after a beautiful sunny day. Dusk was falling later at night so that meant that Cherie had less waking hours with Bill and because he had finally made her see reason, he had been out feeding only to come back and find Cherie and Tom ensconced on the couch watching a video tape of the Royal Wedding of Prince Charles and the Lady Diana Spencer that Cherie had set the video recorder to tape during the day. 

She looked up and smiled ruefully at the sight of Bill, sighing silently at his slightly rosy hue. It was a bone of contention between them. The fact that Bill went off to feed on someone else still rankled with Cherie. He had made her see sense though after she had fainted and gone to the doctor only to be told she was severely anaemic despite having increased her intake of B vitamins and eating a strictly healthy diet. Bill had made her agree to him feeding on others and promised that it would only be with males, no females, and above all no sex but still, it rather hurt her and made her feel unreasonably inadequate that she couldn’t supply her lover with her life giving source all the time.   
He promised that it would only be until her blood count improved and that he would still take a ‘sip’ when they were making love as neither of them could resist the ultimate orgasm, they were so besotted with each other, but as for drinking deeply, that was a no go for the time being. 

Tom on the other hand seemed to be getting his regular fill. He was very discrete so as not to embarrass Cherie as she practically lived there with them, and on nights when he needed to get his fill, he would manage to chat up anyone of the multitude of birds that could not resist his beauty or, if the mood took him, he would call on Suzie and they would have a rollicking night in at her flat. 

‘It is,’ Tom was insisting. ‘I am telling you that it’s not.’ Cherie was retorting adamantly. ‘What the hell are you two arguing about now?’ Bill asked. ‘God the way you two go on, you are like an old married couple, always bickering at each other anyone would think that the two of you had been married for eons,’ he smirked, then looked on at them thoughtfully. ‘The dress,’ Tom interrupted him, nodding his head towards the TV. ‘What dress?’ Bill asked totally confused. Cherie laughed. ‘We are debating whether or not the dress is made from silk taffeta or not, with machine lace or handmade lace.’ 

The look of total surprise on Bill’s face had the other two in fits of laughter. ‘What the fuck?’ Bill shook his head. ‘Since when do you know a thing about silk and lace?’ he asked Tom who shrugged. ‘Can’t help it, I am a SNAV.’ Bill blinked. ‘And just what the hell is a SNAV?’ he asked. Cherie was in stitches now. ‘Do you like it? I came up with it for you two. It stands for Sensitive New Age Vampire.’ Bill blinked again. ‘You two have finally cracked haven’t you?’ he shook his head.

‘Look its really quite simple,’ Tom was saying, ‘she is going to be the wife of the future King of England, do you really think that she is going to have any old naff-off- the- shelf-lace for her dress? They said in the paper yesterday that it cost nine thousand quid so it makes sense that the lace is hand made. Only the best will do for our Di,’ he said patriotically. Secretly Cherie thought that Tom had one huge crush on ‘Our Di’ as he called her but she said nothing, keeping her thoughts to herself. She nodded. ‘Ok, you do have a point. You win but you have to concede that it is silk taffeta, it is meant to look sort of crushed, that is the effect of it. Well I think, sort of. Anyway, admit it, she looks stunning. She will make a wonderful Queen and a beautiful mother I bet.’

The talk then turned to Royalty and Royal families, their lineage and what their children would be like. ‘I bet you ten quid they have two kids if not more within the first five years.’ Tom stated. Bill looked at him quizzically. ‘Now what makes you say that?’ Tom went on with assurance, ‘Old families and such always do, you know, produce an heir to the title and at least one spare. My Father was besotted with it you know. He even…’ Tom stopped, a strange look on his face. Cherie turned away from the TV and looked at him now too. ‘He even what?’ she asked. ‘Nothing.’ Tom shut up hurriedly. ‘Oh no you don’t, you aren’t going to get away with that, he even what? Come on Tom, we don’t have any secrets from each other right?’

He hesitated, debating whether he really did want to go down this path. Bill and Cherie were looking at him expectantly, waiting for him to say something. ‘My Father…’ ‘Yes, right got it, your Father? What did your Father do?’ Cherie was trying to get him to open up. ‘I…’ He started again and stopped. ‘Tom, what is it. Whatever is the matter?’ ‘Cherie honey,’ Bill said warningly, ‘leave off.’ She looked across at Bill with raised eye brows and his eyes met hers for a fraction of a second. ‘Sorry Tom, I didn’t mean to push it.’

‘My father was paranoid about the subject. He wanted so very much for the family name to continue on you see.’ Cherie and Bill looked at each other. They were both thinking the same thing, how ironical that both the brothers would be turned vampire and the line stop with them after their parent’s death. ‘I don’t know why I didn’t think of it before.’ Tom had gone on, almost talking to himself. ‘It never really occurred to me but now, now with Robert dead and everything well, I would be the heir to the estate.’ Bill looked at him before saying gently, ‘But Tom, you can’t be the heir, you know that you can’t come out so to speak.’

‘I know that but that isn’t what.. I mean, I just remembered. I hadn’t thought about it before.’ Cherie and Bill were looking a bit confused. Tom wasn’t making a great deal of sense but this time she knew better than to say anything. ‘You see,’ Tom went on, ‘just before my parents died my Father made enquiries about a new technology. He was big into that kind of thing, always hailing some new break through,’ he laughed at this point, ‘he even invested in computers trying to convince me that they were the way of the future and that one day every household would have one. Can you imagine that? I mean what the fuck would anyone need a computer at home for? The office yes but … well hmm maybe.’ 

‘Anyway he was always investing in crackpot inventions. He even invested in some company called Motorola, they make, wait for this…. Mobile phones. He loved all that James Bond spy stuff and was into all that high tech kind of thing, bless him.’ 

‘Well anyway,’ Tom seemed to shake himself out of his reverie and get back to where he had begun, ‘just before he died he had been looking into cryogenics and …’ Bill stopped him. ‘Cryogenics, isn’t that where they freeze your body after you die, some kind of new technology?’ Tom nodded, ‘It is but it is not just used for that, they are also using it for other purposes including sperm donation.’ Cherie and Bill just stared at him. ‘And my Father made me donate.’

‘Somewhere out there in some lab lays the potential for me to have kids,’ Tom enthused with shining eyes.


	23. Chapter 23

Bill knew how very much Tom wanted children. Almost from the first night they had met he had spoken about it but he just didn’t see how that would be possible, not now, not as things stood. He felt Tom’s pain. He felt the guilt too. Then there was Cherie, she too had wanted children and she would make such a great mother. Bill sighed, he loved her. She was smart, witty, intelligent, sensual and so much fun. She made him feel young again. But it wasn’t fair on her, this life that he was condemning her to. She deserved to be in the sunlight, not destined to always be waiting for him to rise each night in the darkness. 

He was mulling all this over yet again as he walked into the obscure little club that he had found when out looking for a place to find a feed. He was not to know that this night, more than any other night since he met Tom and Cherie, was to change his entire vampire existence and set him on a course that would have far reaching repercussions not just for Bill, but for the whole world. 

Over six months had gone by since that day that they had sat watching a fairy tale wedding and it was a new year, nineteen eighty two and the punk scene was in full swing.   
Making his way to the bar he ordered a drink from the barman, Callum he said his name was. ‘Have one on me then?’ Bill asked. ‘Don’t mind if I do.’ That was perfect as far as Bill was concerned. 

Callum struggled a little at first when Bill fed from him, once he had him outside and up a side lane, but he managed to persuade him to look into his eyes so he could glamour him. He was even considerate enough to give him advice about iron supplements and vitamin B twice daily, before letting him go. ‘Fight on mate,’ he called after him as Callum trotted off down the street into the night.

‘You don’t kill them,’ a voice observed. He looked up to find a smartly dressed female vampire in a blue suit and impossibly high heeled shoes tottering along on the uneven cobblestones. ‘My name is Nan Flannagan.’ ‘Bill Compton,’ Bill said. ‘I know who you are. I’ve been watching you for weeks.’ Bill was taken aback, he had no idea that he had been watched and yet he prided himself on having superior observation skills, it was his vampire quality, so to speak. Some vamps had one special ability or another, this was his.

‘Why is it that you don’t kill your prey?’ she asked him. ‘They may be dinner but they don’t deserve to die,’ he stated as a matter of fact. ‘Most vampires disagree with you.’ ‘I can’t speak for them.’ ‘What if you could? What if I could introduce you to a powerful group of vampires who feel exactly like you do, who want to emerge from the shadows of society and maybe even fit into it one day.’ ‘Mainstreaming? It’s my dream but it’s just a dream,’ he said a little sceptically.

‘Not necessarily. Right now on three different continents the most brilliant scientific minds in our community including Louise Pasteur by the way, are working on …’ Bill interrupted, ‘Pasteur is a vampire?’ ‘You didn’t hear it from me, but yes,’ Nan replied before continuing on. ‘He is close Mr Compton to synthesising human blood. Real human blood, made in a lab that we could survive on.’ She paused as they looked at each other. ‘Consider what this would mean.’

Bill looked away then looked back at her. ‘Still, the monarchs would crush you before you had a chance…’ he said, but she jumped in before he could go on, ‘Which is why we need you and others like you to infiltrate the monarchies and plant the seeds of discord from within.’ ‘Looking for a few good vampire spies are you?’ Bill retorted somewhat sarcastically. ‘That’s exactly what we are looking for. So are you in or are you out?’ 

Nan could read his hesitation, it was written all over his face and she knew that she was going to face some tough resistance but she was not prepared to take no for an answer so before he even had a chance to refuse she went on. ‘Then there is the little matter of Robert Compton to take into consideration.’ Bill’s face blanched if that was possible. ‘We have spies everywhere Mr Compton and the Authority does not take kindly to, let’s just say ... anyone taking matters into their own hands when it comes to other vampires.’ Bill was about to protest but she dismissed him with the wave of a hand. 

‘Don’t worry, I have the situation under control, my source is discrete but as Robert Compton was last seen in your club, disappearing into the back with you after his somewhat inappropriate attempts to pursue your human, the Authority would be compelled to undertake a full investigation and if found guilty of any misdemeanour, then things would not go well for you. But if you were to come to us, well I could make this little issue all go away for you,’ she said persuasively, ‘look at it as your punishment for taking things into your own hands, whether justified or not, you still have to answer for your actions, we all do in the long run.’

Bill kept his face as still as possible, trying desperately not to show this woman how much she had affected him, to give anything away would be an admission of guilt and practically suicide.

‘Oh and just to show you that we, or I should say I am not totally heartless, I can open doors for you that you never dreamed. It is not only Pasteur that we have in our folds. As I said, some of the most brilliant scientific minds are amongst our group. They are making break throughs in all kinds of fields, things that we never dreamt would be possible are now being researched. DNA is the key, the blood is the key and we are looking at all kinds of possibilities, cloning, IVF, even dare I say it … walking in the sunlight. Just think of it, to walk in the day again. The future is ours Mr Compton but it starts now with the help of those like you but I need an answer and I need it now.’

‘What if I don’t, what then?’ he asked her, fearful of the response. For a moment she lost patience, annoyed with his reaction. ‘This is more important than anything that you will ever accomplish with that club of yours. Oh I know that you have done well with what you are trying to do there, quite impressive really but that is small scale. What you would be doing for us has the possibility of changing the way people like Robert Compton and those other less enlightened beings see things. If we can’t do that then what hope have we for winning over the human population? Small steps Mr Compton and they have to start somewhere. It will be a long process but let’s face it, we have all eternity don’t we?’ 

‘What would you have me do then?’ Nan smiled a little, relieved in what she thought was him coming around, or at least considering the possibility of her proposal. ‘You need to start well away from here and those that know you of course. It has been many years since you were in the States and with your connections to Louisiana, well we naturally felt that it would be appropriate for you to return home. I think that you will find the Queen, Sophie Anne a quite likely prospect to begin with. Her headquarters are in New Orleans and it is rapidly becoming a mecca for others of our kind in the south. With your home grown knowledge you would be a very valuable asset to our cause.’

As repugnant as it was to him leaving everything that he had, leaving Cherie and Tom, the club and his friends, Bill knew that Nan was right. This was bigger and a far greater cause than just his and their happiness. This was the way to help achieve what he and Tom and Cherie too, had worked and dreamt of but never really thought possible. He looked at Nan Flannagan again, coolly appraising her, weighing up in his own mind how far he thought he could push things then he seemed to make up his mind. ‘Alright, I will do it but there are two conditions and I must have your promise that no matter what, when the time comes, if it does, then you will see to it.’ 

‘Good, I think that can be arranged,’ she agreed after listening to him. She nodded and smiled. ‘Welcome aboard Mr Compton. This is the first step to the rest of your future.’


	24. Chapter 24

‘I have to go,’ Bill said. Tom and Cherie were sitting on the couch watching a video copy of Midnight Express when Bill walked in. The tape was nearly worn out. They had watched it so many times now but the two of them just couldn’t get enough of it and it never failed to leave an impression on both of them. ‘You have to go where? You just came in,’ Tom said looking up at him laughing. Something about the expression on Bill’s face startled Tom and wiped the smile off his face. There was something wrong, something very badly wrong and he could feel it. ‘What’s up then, where are you going?’ ‘I have to leave,’ he said quietly. 

Cherie’s eyes met Bill’s and she saw the look on his face. She immediately felt anxious. She could feel his pain through the bond and she was scared. ‘Bill, what are you talking about? Where are you going?’ ‘Move over then love,’ he said as he sat down in between the two of them and wrapped his arms around them both. ‘I have to pay for Robert,’ he said as simply as possible.

He had tortured himself on his way home thinking of all the possible ways that he could break this to Cherie and Tom without disclosing anything that may put his or Nan Flannagan’s “mission” as he thought of it now, without placing it in jeopardy. Of course neither Tom nor Cherie would deliberately do or say anything to harm him or such a proposal, but Cherie particularly would be vulnerable to glamouring and things could slip out and Tom was so young in vampire terms, really not much more than a teenager just out of baby vamp mode so he too was vulnerable. No, he had to protect them at all costs.

There was one other reason that Bill knew, and had really known, since the minute that Robert had revealed his turning to him why he should get out, and that was Lorena. He realised that for as long as he was anywhere near Tom and Cherie he would be a danger to them. He had thought that Lorena had let him go but he had been sadly mistaken. He knew that he would not be able to be there with them both all the time to protect them so this was the only way, to get as far away as possible and hope that was enough. 

As one of his conditions, Nan Flannagan had guaranteed their safety. It was a small concession, trifling in the scheme of things and worth it to her to get what she wanted, and Nan wanted to acquire Bill’s services badly. She had a feeling that her destiny and that of all their kind was in some way tied up to this one vampire. She didn’t know why but it was just a hunch. Only time would tell. 

So he had thought that the only way that he could explain his departure was telling them that this was a punishment of sorts for his actions. Tom knew that there was always a chance the Authority could take action if they ever found out but as the time had gone on and nothing had happened, he thought that they were safe. They had both explained this as much as they could to Cherie but although she took it reasonably seriously, she still didn’t think that in that day and age Bill would be forced into doing anything. She was seriously mistaken.

‘When do you have to go?’ Cherie asked, tears coursing down her cheeks. ‘Soon,’ was all he said. He was reluctant to tell her that this was to be his last night with them. He couldn’t bring himself to face yet another goodbye. His existence seemed to always be full of heart shattering goodbyes and over the years he had learnt that it was easier on all concerned to leave quietly, holding to the memories of better times than to be faced with that last memory of a tearful goodbye. 

How many goodbyes could a person take he thought bitterly. He had never imagined the day that he had left Carolyn and the children to go off to war that there could be anything more gut wrenching than their parting. He had seen it on the faces of the other boys going off to the front when they were saying their goodbyes at the train depot, the tearful faces of wives, mothers, sweethearts, sisters and children, all ghostly memories of the pain that they had all been part of.

That had been bad, so very bad but now he had to come to terms with was an eternity of partings and goodbyes. What was the alternative, to turn Cherie so they would never be parted? He had never seriously even considered it as a possibility. He remembered the conversation he had had with Tom the first time that he had explained it to him, word for word.

“You can choose to become a maker, to have a progeny,’ Bill said quietly. Tom stared at him open mouthed. ‘You mean do this to someone else? Inflict this, this disgusting miserable despicable existence on someone deliberately just to have a …’ Tom was speechless, ‘don’t tell me that you have done that, that you have “progeny” just don’t. I couldn’t bear it.’ Bill shook his head and replied quietly, ‘No, no I don’t have any and I never intend to. I couldn’t bear the thought of it either. No matter how lonely I feel, I would never do that, not willingly.”

No Bill thought to himself, he would not do that, not ever. Well not willingly he thought. He would rather go through the loneliness of his existence than inflict this life type on another but then his thoughts turned Nan Flannagan’s words. Perhaps with some of the research and breakthroughs that they were exploring maybe then things would turn out for the better. Who knows what is in store for us in the future. That may be the only hope that we all have... the future. 

Tom’s voice bought him back to reality. ‘What about everything here?’ Tom asked, his eyes straying past Bill to Cherie as she sat silently crying. Bill looked at him, their eyes meeting with unspoken words between them. ‘I want you to take care of everything. Everything I have here is yours to look after. I trust you. You are the brother and the son that I lost and that I found again. I love you Tom. Whatever you do, you will always have my blessing,’ he said significantly. He then leant in and kissed Tom on the mouth. ‘We are bonded in a way that only a maker and progeny can be, we have the same Compton blood that is how I will always think of you.’

Bill got up and turning, he took Cherie’s hand and led her into his bedroom, quietly closing the door after him. Had he turned he would have seen the tears on Tom’s face as he watched them go and felt the pain of separation to be almost too much to bear.

Quickly undressing, Bill moved over to Cherie and helped her out of her jeans and top then they climbed into bed. They lay arm in arm, she was almost in a shocked like state, trembling from head to foot, small sobs escaping her lips. It was tearing him apart just like he knew that it would but he kept telling himself that this was the only thing that he could do. It was for the greater good of them all. 

Gradually her crying abated and she was able to speak. ‘Bill, will you ever be able to come back?’ she asked. ‘I don’t know,’ he answered honestly. ‘Will we ever see each other again?’ That was something that he had asked himself a hundred times in the last few hours but he had no answer to that either. 

He turned on his side and looked at her face, gently moving her silken hair out her eyes as he always did in a gesture that had become so familiar. He drank in the picture of her eyes, her cheeks, her mouth, indelibly etching them into his memory to store them up like a bottle of perfume that he could open and savour when he needed to.   
‘I will never forget you Cherie,’ he whispered to her as he tenderly kissed her lips, ‘you will always be with me, every moment that we had will be with me wherever I go.’ They made love together over and again throughout the night, neither could get enough of each other and each moment they treasured as though it would be the last. Bill knew that it would be and Cherie suspected it, but neither spoke of it. 

When Cherie woke the next evening Bill was gone.


	25. Chapter 25

Bill’s bedroom was exactly as it had always been with two exceptions, the tapestries that Tom had given him were no longer hanging on the walls but other than that, as far as Cherie could see, he had taken nothing else with him. Yet everything had changed, it was devoid of him, he was gone and she was bereft.

Pulling on her wrap, careless of her dishevelled state, she made her way out to the living room but she knew that it was hopeless. She couldn’t feel him anywhere close by. Instead she found Tom sitting with his head in his hands. He was as devastated as she was. He looked up at her immediately on her entry into the room and held his arms out to her. She walked over to him like a sleepwalker and he wrapped his arms tightly around her hips burying his face against her as she stood there unable to say a word, what was there to say after all, Bill was gone and they both knew it.

They clung to each other literally and figuratively for hours that night, like two lost children seeking comfort after a death, neither one able to stem the flood of tears and grief that poured out of them. When Leon the head barman had come up to ask for the keys to the supply room, Tom had merely handed them to him and told him that under no circumstances did he want to be disturbed again for the rest of the night. If truth be told, all Tom wanted to do was close the club and forget about it. He had no heart for any of it now, not without Bill and said as much to Cherie when they had finally composed themselves enough to actually talk a little. 

‘I’ll pack my things tomorrow and move out if that is ok, I can’t face it tonight,’ she murmured. ‘No. No please don’t. I … I couldn’t bear it if you went too. Not now, not yet.’ He looked at her and her face softened. ‘I know, I know that you loved him as much as I did. Oh Tom, what are we going to do?’ He put his arms around her and held her while she sobbed, his tears falling down his face and into her hair as she rested her head against his chest. They sat like that all night just holding each, comforting each other when they were overwhelmed and then finally as the dawn pulled Tom, she begged him not to leave her on her own so he took her hand and led her to his bedroom, falling asleep in each other’s arms for reassurance. 

Cherie woke at dusk and feeling the cool muscular body lying curled around her she rolled over. For one brief moment in the gloom of the room she thought that Bill was there with her and her heart gave a leap of hope but suddenly the truth came flooding back to her and she felt the grief of loss inundate her all over again. Tom stirred at that moment and opened his eyes. They were so like Bill’s but with that slight difference, not just in colour but in temperament if that made sense she thought as she looked at him. Where Bill’s eyes held a multitude of experiences, painful as so many of them were, they were deep and knowing and held a sense of wryness. She had always thought that his eyes were like looking into the depths of a mountain lake full of crystal clear water reflecting everything around it with clarity and vision.

Tom’s eyes were different to Bill’s, they had always held a twinkle to them despite the sorrows that he had been through, they were like the aquamarine sea sparkling on a bright summer’s day. His eyes had an optimism founded or not, and an inquisitiveness or they always had but now the spark that had always been in them was gone, he was hurting as much as she was. She shook her head, she had no idea what she was even on about, her mind was numb, she was numb. She couldn’t think straight. She hurt too much. 

They didn’t leave the apartment for days, neither one of them wanted to see anyone or talk to anyone. Tom gave Leon instructions for the day to day operations of the club and appointed him assistant manager, giving him carte blanche to make decisions that he just could not face at the time. Gloria and Derrick, worried about Cherie, had turned up to see if everything was alright when she didn’t show up for work. All they could get out of her was that Bill was gone, deported she said as an excuse, and that there was nothing else to say. She begged them not to talk about it then asked them to let her have some time to herself. 

They had been shocked when they saw her. She was painfully thin and looked like she hadn’t eaten for days. Tom did not look any better they thought. He had always looked pasty but they had put that down to working at night and not getting any sun but now he looked positively sickly, his skin almost looked a green transparent shade. They both asked Cherie if he was sick and all she would say was that they were both missing Bill. They left it at that but both Gloria and Derrick were really worried about them both. 

Each night, for night after night, they sat together quietly sharing memories of their time with Bill, all to the backdrop of the soundtrack to Midnight Express. It was their theme, it belonged to the three of them, they felt so close to him listening to it. They held nothing back as they talked, nothing. Cherie had never dreamed that she would ever share such intimate reminiscences with anyone other than Bill but now that was all that she had, memories to look back on. To talk of them with Tom was the only way she had of feeling anything again. She hurt, she was in so much pain and only Tom knew or understood for he was in just as much torment. ‘I can’t bear it, I can’t let myself believe that I won’t see him again. I just can’t,’ she sobbed. 

Days then weeks went by. It broke Tom up that he couldn’t help Cherie but he too was in a pitiful state. He hadn’t fed for days, he was becoming weaker but he didn’t care, what was the point? As usual, they were sitting on the couch holding each other and thinking their own dark thoughts one night when Tom reached an epiphany of sorts. He had been thinking over and over of his meeting with Bill and sharing those first few days, of how Bill had believed so much in mainstreaming and how very much he had wanted to make a difference, to change things for creatures of his own kind. 

‘Bill would be so pissed off at us you know don’t you?’ he had said to Cherie. She looked at him and sighed. ‘Yes, I know he would.’ ‘He would tell us we were being such effing sods over this you know.’ She laughed a little. ‘I know that too.’ ‘Well, what are we going to do about it then?’ She looked at him. ‘You know a lot about the industry, just as much as I do. You have experience, you know what you are doing and you know vampires or well, you know enough about us to get you by. I need a new partner. What do you say? Who better to take over Bill’s half than you?’ he asked hopefully. 

‘Nothing will ever replace Bill,’ she said quietly. ‘That is not what I mean and you know it. Do you think that I am that shallow? Cherie I miss him just as much as you do and you know that too.’ They sat staring at each other. ‘I’m sorry Tom. Please don’t be angry with me, I didn’t mean it to sound the way that it came out honestly. You have to know what you mean to me. I couldn’t have gotten through this without you. You do know that don’t you?’ Suddenly more than anything else it was terribly important to her that he knew that. She wanted him to know how much he meant to her, he had always meant to her, even when she was with Bill. 

‘So, you didn’t answer me, do we have a deal?’ He had spun the conversation away and back to his suggestion. For the first time in weeks she actually felt something positive. ‘Ok, you have a deal but are you sure?’ ‘Well there is one condition, you have to let me cook you something to eat. I am actually a really good cook even though I can’t bare it now, I make a mean spag bol,’ he laughed. ‘Come on then,’ he jumped up and reached for her hand. She got up and taking his hand in hers she followed him into the kitchen. It was the first time that either of them had thought of anything other than Bill and their sorrow for weeks. 

They had finally turned the corner in their grief and with the help of each other, they had a future to look forward to, one step at a time.


	26. Chapter 26

‘You know you are right,’ Cherie was mumbling, her mouth half full of pasta, sauce splashed around the corner of her lips, ‘you are a pretty dam good cook. Where did you learn to cook like this?’ Tom shrugged. ‘I had to learn to fend for myself once I moved out. Didn’t have a choice really and besides,’ he smirked, ‘it was a great way of pulling birds.’ Cherie gave a hoot of laughter. It was the first time since Bill had gone that she had really laughed, laughed out loud just for the sake of it and it felt good. ‘I bet that it worked every single time too didn’t it?’ Tom looked embarrassed but laughed. ‘Well, it did get results,’ he replied smugly. ‘Oh I bet that it did,’ she smirked, ‘did you offer to cook them breakfast the next day then?’ Tom really laughed now. 

‘Hey, that is my line. How did you know that?’ ‘Oh just a good guess, you forget, I know you well Tom Compton.’ ‘Yes you do don’t you?’ he said softly as licked his finger and wiped away the smudge of sauce from her lips. She looked at him and their eyes met for the briefest of moments. Her face flushed under his gaze and she looked down at her plate. She looked so beautiful and vulnerable to him and it moved him. 

‘That was really delicious,’ she stammered a little awkwardly, ‘thanks, I guess I really needed that. Now, it’s only fair that seeing you cooked I’ll do the cleaning up.’ ‘You don’t have to you know, I can manage,’ he was saying as he picked up her plate and took it to the sink. ‘No, it’s only fair, after all you did all the hard work and don’t even get to enjoy any of it. I can take care of it.’ ‘Well ok but I’ll give you a hand anyway, and how about a bit of music while we get cracking then?’ ‘Sure just not ….’ He knew what she was going to say and nodded, just not Midnight Express he agreed. 

He picked out a Donna Summer album with all her greatest hits that he knew that she liked and came back to the kitchen. She nodded as the music started pounding out its disco beat. They buzzed around the kitchen doing dishes and cleaning up, Cherie half dancing to the rhythm of the songs, Tom joining in with her as they wove their bodies in and out of the benches and cupboards, almost making a light hearted game out of it, Tom twirling her around from the sink over the pantry and back again, juggling plates and bowls and a big colander skilfully before lifting her up to the top shelf to put away the enormous pot that he had used to boil up the spaghetti. As he held her firmly, he slowly let her down until she was level with him and their eyes met again, both of them breaking away immediately and continuing on with things, valiantly ignoring the moment as much as they could.

By the time that they had finished she was breathless and giggling. ‘I have never had so much fun doing the dishes before in my life,’ she laughed. ‘Good. I should cook for you more often then,’ he grinned, ‘it’s worth it just so see you smiling.’ 

They settled back down in the living room in a comfortable silence until quite suddenly she asked him, ‘Do you really think that we can do this?’ Tom had been miles away and jumped when she spoke, a rather guilty look on his face. ‘Sorry, what were you saying?’ He had been lost in his own thoughts and had not heard her and yet he was very aware of her presence, if anything, alarmingly so.

They were sitting on the couch, Cherie’s legs draped over his as she sat sideways, comfortable in their own space, just as they had been for weeks now but suddenly they both felt a change in the atmosphere. For day after day they had been inseparable, barely out of each other’s sight their need for the comfort of the other was so strong that they had almost been joined at the hip out of their necessity but now, they both felt that suddenly there was a transformation, a slight tilt to their relationship.

The deep mourning for the loss of Bill had moved on from that stage of grief that leaves one so very paralysed. They had come through the darkness together and were standing on the threshold of a newly made day and they were facing it together and were glad that they were. 

‘Do you really think that we can do this?’ she asked again. He searched her face, reading every inch of it, looking for a hidden meaning. A lock of her hair had fallen into her eyes and he slowly leant forward until he was close to her face and brushed it aside, slightly trembling at the touch. ‘Do you think that we can make a go of it?’ she almost whispered. Her heart was racing, the touch of his hand sent an unexpected thrill through her as she gazed at him. 

‘I think that we would be fools not to,’ he whispered softly back, his face within inches of hers. ‘We would make a good partnership,’ she breathed. ‘We would.’ ‘And it’s not like we don’t know each other, we have known each other for so long now.’ ‘We have.’ ‘And I think…’ ‘What do you think Cherie?’ He said her name differently to Bill, he pronounced it more like Sheree, the accent on the double ee and she loved it. ‘I think that we both…’ she had started to go on but he broke in, ‘We both want the same things?’ 

She was so close that Tom could feel her hot breath on his face as she whispered, ‘Yes, we both want the same … things.’ ‘Are you sure? Are you totally sure of it?’ He was looking into her eyes, melting into the aquamarine pools of her soul. She didn’t hesitate, ‘Yes, Tom I am totally sure.’ ‘There will be no going back, no place for regrets you know.’ ‘I know.’ ‘If we…’ he didn’t go on. ‘If we,’ he didn’t let her finish; ‘I am not Bill.’ 

He had finally said it, the B word that they had both felt was hanging somewhere in between them like a road block holding them back. 

‘Bill will always be with us, with us both. He loved both of us just as much as we loved him. You yourself said how unhappy he would be that we were so miserable. He wouldn’t want that for either of us and Tom, I know in my heart that he isn’t coming back. I think that you know that too.’ He nodded. ‘He knew you know, he knew what we didn’t, he could see it and Cherie, he had always been able to see it, he was ok with it and he gave me his blessing.’ ‘He didn’t need to say it to me, I knew too. I knew that was the way he felt.’ 

‘I don’t want you to feel that you are obligated in any way Cherie.’ ‘I don’t and never will feel obligated to you Tom. That isn’t how I feel.’ ‘It isn’t?’ ‘No, it isn’t.’ ‘Then how do you feel?’ They were inches apart now, staring into each other’s eyes when they weren’t looking longingly at the other’s lips. ‘I, I feel…’ they were leaning forward, inch by inch, willing the other to make a move but fighting it. ‘How do you feel?’ he whispered so softly that it was barely a spoken thought. ‘I feel... I want to …’

The phone on the side table next to the couch rang shrilly. They slumped apart as Cherie grabbed the phone to shut it up. ‘Cherie its Gloria how are you? We have been so worried about you.’ Gloria didn’t stop for breath before launching on again with a multitude of questions. Cherie looked over at Tom and for a fleeting second their eyes met again then she sat up straight and put her feet down on the floor. He too straightened up a little and reached for the remote of the TV. 

The moment was gone.


	27. Chapter 27

Up until that night Cherie had been sleeping in Tom’s room. There had been nothing in it, nothing more than their desperate need not to be alone but tonight when she said goodnight to him she went into Bill’s room and closed the door. Tom stared after her at the closed door for a full five minutes before he too went to his room and got ready for the dawn. 

As he lay waiting for the pull to take him into that other world he wondered what it was that had just happened or what it was that hadn’t happened. He didn’t know, he was so unsure of himself now but he did know one thing, nothing would ever happen if Cherie did not want it to, he could not do that do her. And right now, he didn’t know what she wanted. He had thought for a few fleeting moments that she had wanted the same things as he did but he wasn’t so sure now if they had been talking about the same thing or not, maybe he had just been imagining it or was just totally mistaken. He sighed and as the dawn pulled him, finally his last thought was of the touch of her silken hair on his skin.

Climbing into Bill’s empty bed was a torture to Cherie. Even after all this time she could still smell him on the sheets. He smelt differently to Tom, he had a salty almost exotic tang to his skin whereas Tom smelt of a heady mix of Halston aftershave and his own muskiness. Her body gave an involuntary shiver as she thought of the way that Tom smelt when she had been curled up to him, clinging to each other. She felt so protected with him in the fragile state she had been in, he really had been there for her. 

She lay awake for some time, tossing and turning before falling into a fitful sleep full of dreams of Bill. He came to her and was smiling, holding his hand out to her and telling her something but she couldn’t quite hear. Every time she got close enough to listen he would just smile and stop talking. This seemed to go on and on until finally she began to cry. The moment that she did his arms went around her and he whispered that everything was alright, everything would be ok and that he was so happy that she was finally happy. She had never been so happy in her life as she was when cocooned in his arms. She looked up expectantly into his face only to find that it was Tom holding her in his arms and soothing her and that Bill was in the distance nodding his approval as he slowly turned his back and waved goodbye. 

When she woke the next evening her eyes were swollen from crying and her pillow was wet. She felt disorientated and annoyed at herself for the previous night. She felt out of her skin, uncomfortable and totally confused. She also felt guilty. She knew that was stupid, Bill was gone and not coming back but never the less she felt like she had been unfaithful even though nothing had happened. And then the dream came flooding back to her and she felt even more confused. 

She couldn’t shake the feeling she had when she had been soothed by Tom’s arms in the dream. She kept thinking about how it felt as she dressed and it made her hot and prickly and unnerved her. By the time that she finished dressing she had worked herself up into a state. She didn’t know whether she was coming or going and it annoyed her, she was annoyed with her own reaction and getting totally grumpy with herself. On top of everything else she couldn’t make up her mind what to wear. Nothing she tried on seemed to make her happy, not that it mattered really she was thinking but she was sick of looking like the miserable frump that she had been for weeks now she told herself.   
She ended up putting on a red dress that she had bought for work, it’s over sized shoulder pads made her waist look tiny and the v of the neck showed off just the right amount of her ample cleavage without being too slutty, after all if she was going to be a partner in the club she wanted to look hot but classy without being too showy. 

When she was finally dressed and walked out into the living room Tom was already up. He looked up as she walked in and his eyes drank her in. His face lit up when he saw her with such a beautiful smile that crinkled the corners of his eyes with anticipation. She looked wonderful. ‘Hi,’ he sang out to her as she crossed over the hallway. ‘Hi.’ She really looked sensational. He hadn’t seen her looking this good in such a long while and it was great. ‘How did you sleep?’ he asked casually. At the mention of sleeping she was flooded again by the thought of her dream and turned red. 

‘Look Tom, I think that we need to get a few things sorted out ok?’ she said sounding rather short. ‘Oh okay,’ he said rather surprised by her tone. ‘I mean well that is if we are going to be partners, if that is what you want?’ The smile had faded now from Tom’s face, it was a cool mask as he sat perfectly still and quietly replied, ‘Sure anything you want.’ ‘Well we should get a solicitor, you know have it in writing,’ she stammered. ‘Bill and I had a hand shake agreement,’ he replied staring at her. ‘Oh well, umm that was between Bill and you. I just thought that if we are going to be doing this properly then we should, well get it sorted out legally.’ He nodded thoughtfully. ‘If that is what you want Cherie.’ 

She looked uncomfortable but she ploughed on. ‘I was thinking that perhaps if you don’t mind I could turn part of Bill’s room into an office for me, I mean I don’t want to take up room in the office down stairs and cramp you.’ He was staring hard at her now, his face unfathomable as she went on. ‘And Tom, well you only need to tell me and I can keep out of your way whenever you…’ she trailed off meaningfully. ‘Whenever I what?’ he asked curiously. ‘Well,’ she seemed embarrassed but he still didn’t quite get what she had been driving at, ‘whenever you bring someone up.’ Did she really think that he thought that little of her? His face looked crushed.

When Tom had risen that evening his first thought had been of Cherie and he hoped that she had been thinking as much as about the night before as he had. Then when he had his first glimpse of her dressed, made up and looking so stunning, he had hoped beyond hope that she had somehow reconsidered and maybe, just maybe made an effort for him. He was kicking himself now. How stupid could he have been? Instead of being closer, they were as far apart if not further than they had ever been since they met. He didn’t get it. But now, when she had talked of him bring up what he considered to be a fuck and feed buddy, now that had hurt. In fact it hurt him so deeply that he simply stood up and murmured to her, ‘I am going out,’ and slammed the apartment door behind him.

Oh god, what the hell is the matter with me she thought as she sank onto the couch and began to cry, what the fuck have I just done?


	28. Chapter 28

The lights on the far side of the bank of river shone out prettily as Tom stood leaning against the iron railing. He had taken off from the apartment unable to stand the hurt that it seemed Cherie was almost deliberately inflicting. He didn’t understand it. They had always gotten on so well. It had been the three of them right from the start, like the three Musketeers almost. 

Through all the pain of losing Bill they had remained strong for each other, there for each other and supporting each other. Then last night when finally things seemed to have lifted a little, their pain subsiding enough to finally be able to laugh and be normal, there was a different level of emotions running between them. 

He stared down at the dark inky water, the myriad of tiny lights reflecting off the surface. He had never felt this alone in all his existence. It bought back those terrifying nights that he had spent on his own in the cellar only to be saved by Bill. He missed Bill so much and now, now it felt like he had lost Cherie too. She seemed like a totally different person to the one that he thought he knew. 

He must have stood there still as stone for hours in the dark, dark thoughts running through his mind as bloody tears rimmed his eyes. He wondered where Bill was and what he was doing and whether he was happy. 

He thought again about last night and being the fair kind of creature that he was, he debated and accepted that perhaps it had been his imagination, that he had jumped to the wrong conclusion and that she had been discussing a strictly business proposition and he had gotten carried away imagining something else, something more. 

Something… the Beatles song Something then started going around and around in his head, the words seemed to fit how he had suddenly felt last night sitting so close to Cherie. He could still feel her warm breath on his face, see every inch of her skin, picture what it would feel like to kiss her lips and run his fingers through her hair. 

He groaned inwardly. He was starving and needed to feed. He hadn’t fed in weeks and weeks but he had had no appetite after Bill left. He knew he was getting weaker and when he had flung himself out the door, he had had every intention of finding a quick fuck and feed in his hurt and anger, sort of as revenge for the hurt Cherie had inflicted but he knew that was just stupid. What would it even matter to her, she didn’t care. 

But now as the cold dark hours had passed and he had thought things through, he had begun to see that perhaps it was him in the wrong, misconstruing the whole situation and just plainly reading her badly. He sighed. Maybe he should apologise for storming out. She probably didn’t even have a clue why he had. He shrugged and shook his head as he looked at the time. It was around two am and he hoped that she would still be up as he turned and making up his mind, he walked back to the apartment.

Opening the front door, he walked quietly up the stairs so as not to disturb her in case she was asleep. As he drew level with the living area he looked across and saw her sitting on the couch facing the door but with her face slightly turned away. He had been so quiet that she had not heard him. She had music on really low and at first he didn’t recognise the song then he caught the words to Don’t Leave Me This Way and he stopped dead in his tracks. 

She had gotten changed into her regular jeans and a V neck cardigan of a deep purple colour. It was a colour that he loved and his favourite and he had joked with her one day saying teasingly that she had only bought it to tempt him and that Bill would be jealous. They had all laughed about it at the time. Funny how a stupid little memory like that came flooding back now, right at that moment. 

She suddenly looked over and saw him standing there staring at her. With one hurried movement she was off the couch and across the room flinging herself into his arms. ‘I am sorry. I am so sorry. Oh Tom, I thought that I had lost you. I don’t know what got into me. Please, please forgive me.’ She flung her arms around his neck and was clinging to him. ‘I couldn’t bear it if something happened to you, I just couldn’t. I don’t know what I would do if I lost you. You mean the world to me. I lost my head and I just can’t stand the thought that I have hurt you. I didn’t mean it I just, last night I … I just’ she didn’t know what to say. She knew what she wanted to say but was too scared to say it. 

She looked up into his eyes, her own eyes swimming with tears. ‘Last night?’ he whispered, his finger softly tracing the track of a tear as it trickled down her cheek. ‘Last night when we were so close…’ He leant his face down a little closer to hers. ‘You mean when we were this close?’ He could feel her hot breath on his face again, it was sweetly scented and intoxicating to him. She nodded unable to speak. He wrapped his arms around her and drew her into him as she clung to his neck. ‘What about when we were this close?’ He was barely inches away from her face now as they gazed into each other’s eyes. 

‘I wanted…’ she murmured, glancing hungrily at his mouth. ‘What is it that you wanted Cherie?’ he whispered softly. He wanted no mistakes now, he wanted to be sure of himself and he wanted her to be sure too. ‘I wanted something to happen but I ….’ She hid her face, burying it in the softness of the midnight ink coloured silk shirt he was wearing. ‘But what?’ he questioned her gently. He lifted her face up to his. ‘I was scared.’ ‘Cherie sweetheart what were you scared of?’ ‘I was scared that this thing is bigger than both of us,’ she whispered almost inaudibly. He gave an imperceptible nod but went on, ‘You didn’t answer my first question did you. What did you want to happen?’ 

She looked into his eyes again with such a longing that it thrilled him. He couldn’t help himself. To hell with caution, he took a gamble. ‘Was it this?’ Slowly, very slowly he bent forward and with the barest of touches he brushed her lips. It was like a fire shooting through them both. He pulled back infinitesimally. ‘Was it that?’ he asked her gently. She nodded, unable to answer. ‘Or this?’ he questioned as he leant in again and kissed her with just the tiniest bit more touch. ‘Yes.’ ‘Or this?’ he searched for her lips and tenderly ran the tip of his tongue along her mouth. ‘Yes,’ she panted clinging tighter to him, pushing her body against him. ‘And this, did you want this sweetheart?’ He slid his hand into her hair, the silken touch on his skin was tantalising, as he held her head supported and bent down crushing her mouth to his. His tongue slid in to her lips to meet hers in an explosion of desire. ‘Yes, I wanted this, I wanted more. I wanted you,’ she said into his mouth as they devoured each other with a hunger that was all consuming. 

‘I wanted you.’


	29. Chapter 29

Tom lifted her into his arms and carried her to his bedroom. His room was so very familiar to her. They had slept in the same bed night after night, week after week and nothing had happened but now as he carried her and gently put her down on the bed, she was struck by the ambience and sensuality of the room. He knelt down in front of where she was sitting on the edge of the bed and slowly began to unbutton her top. She sat watching his long slender fingers moving confidently over each button as one by one he worked his way down before sliding his hands under the fabric at the neckline and easing it down off her shoulders to reveal a tangerine coloured bra of the finest lace, so shear and delicate that he could see the mounds of her tight pink nipples through the fabric. 

She looked up at his face as she heard the soft snick of his fangs. She gave a shiver of pleasure that he felt run through her body as he held her and reached around to undo the bra clasp and ease the straps down her arms. Once freed from her bra, she leant back on her arms and tilted her hips up for him to undo her jeans and pull them down her legs. He fumbled a little with the button, not looking at what he was doing because he could not take his eyes off her breasts. They were full and sloped and the sight of them was doing things to him that he was trying hard to control. 

She too was finding it hard to take her eyes away from him. The patch of auburn coloured man fur peeking out from the V of his shirt had teased her and as she ran her eyes down his body and the way his tight navy pants were clinging to him, revealing just how much he truly did want her had made her wet just looking at him. She wanted so much to touch him, to feel his hardness and length in her hands. She sat up now, eager to have him but at the same time shy. She reached up as he began to undo his shirt buttons and she gently pulled at the shirt until it slid out of the waistband of his pants, then it too met her clothes on the pile on the floor next to the bed. 

He undid the button of his pants and slid down the zip. He was trying so desperately to appear very cool and experienced but he wasn’t feeling like that at all, he was as nervous as hell and shaking with anticipation. She watched mesmerised. He slid out of his pants and scuffed off his shoes and socks to stand naked in front of her. She hesitated for just one moment, looking up at him before giving the tiniest of frightened smiles and held out her hand. She knew that she was being totally ridiculous but she felt like she was a virgin again. She had become absurdly shy now that it came down to it and truth be told, so had Tom.

They climbed into bed and under the covers, both now feeling terribly shaky even though they wanted each other dreadfully. Tom timidly pulled Cherie into him, wrapping his arm under her neck so she snuggled into the crook of his arm. They lay like this for some time just holding each other, just as they had so many other nights they had spent together but this, this was so totally different. Tom had to grit his teeth, his fangs were throbbing so much and his body was screaming out to take her. Cherie too was fighting her own battle, her body was sending waves of desire through her and sending her messages that should have told her everything would be alright. 

He looked down at her and gazed into her eyes as she moved slightly to rest her hand on his chest, her fingers absentmindedly stroking his soft hair and gently twining it around her fingers. He leant down and kissed her softly, his lips felt soft on hers and the kiss was tender and sweet. ‘Are you sure?’ he whispered into her mouth. ‘I am totally sure Tom,’ and as if to reinforce this she ran her tongue out and along his fangs teasing the tip with her tongue before grazing it against them to draw blood. Tom trembled violently, his body reacting to her provocation. ‘Oh Cherie,’ he groaned. 

He rolled her onto her back, throwing off the covers and gently parting her legs with his body as he climbed on top of her. He lay gently down, his strong muscular arms taking the weight of his body as their two torsos met. The touch of their skin sent shivers down them and when he positioned himself she drew in her breath. He looked at her with so much feeling in his eyes. He was beautiful and she exulted in the look that was on his face. She reached down and touched him. His whole body trembled at the touch of her hand. 

‘There’s no turning back,’ he whispered to her. ‘No, no turning back.’ ‘Once it’s done it’s done.’ ‘Yes, yes.’ ‘Are you totally …’ She took him in her hand and guided him until he felt her softness so close to him. He leant down and kissed her tenderly until the response of her tongue teasing his started an unmistakable rhythm neither could ignore. Gently, ever so gently he inched his way into her folds, slowly and teasingly, allowing her to become accustomed to his length and girth. He was making love to her and it was the most tender moment she had ever felt in her life. Not even with Bill had she ever felt so much tenderness underlying a physical act. 

He moved tantalisingly slowly, taking her to the point of release then drawing her back again before taking her there again and again until she was beside herself with desire, until finally, when he could hold back no longer, his own desire too much for him, he looked down into her eyes and he kissed her with such unconditional love that they both came, locked together in a wave that overtook them and left them heaving for breath. Tom had never had an experience like that and it left him enthralled as she lay beneath him panting and exhausted. 

They were both shaken to the core by the intensity of the experience. They lay there with ripples of aftershocks shooting through their bodies unable to speak for moments so powerful were their orgasms. She looked up at his face as he tried to compose himself. He had been so very beautiful and caring with her. She was overwhelmed by his sensitivity. ‘You didn’t try to feed from me,’ she whispered in the tiniest of voices. He looked down at her. ‘No,’ he looked away then looked back at her, the softness in his eyes when he looked at her was touching to see. ‘I didn’t think that you would want me to. I..’ he hung his head unable to go on. 

‘Tom, I know that you must be starving. I know that you haven’t fed for days, for weeks even.’ She was concerned for him, he was more than just pale now, he had a tinge to his pallor that was not healthy and she was worried for him. ‘I just couldn’t do that to you Cherie. It’s not like that, what I feel for you is so special. I don’t want you to think that I just want you that way.’ ‘Oh Tom.’ She was so touched, ‘Tom,’ she reached up and wrapped her hands around his neck and pulled his face down to hers kissing him deeply. 

‘Cherie sweetheart,’ he murmured into her mouth as her tongue curled around his newly snicked fangs. She flicked the tips driving him crazy. She began to gently bite his lips with her small teeth, nipping and teasing then she ran her soft lip along the edge of his fang until it drew a tiny drop of blood. Tom groaned loudly, a deep rumbling from his chest escaping his lips. She felt his hardness growing with in her and her muscles responded to him. A wave of wetness flooded her and she knew that he could feel it surrounding him. He groaned again as if to confirm what she already knew. ‘Don’t fight it, I want it. I want you like this, I want you to take me like that.’

He looked into her eyes and saw it, the flame of passion that he had so desperately been hoping for since he met her. And he rejoiced in it.


	30. Chapter 30

With the first vampirish move that he had ever made anywhere near her, there was a whirl of movement and she suddenly found herself straddling him. The impulsiveness of his action thrilled her and she melted into a ferment of desire as he began to thrust himself within her, moving with a rhythm that was building as he looked past her and up to the ceiling to watch her plunge down onto him, matching his movements. She shifted slightly and sat up a little so that she threw her head back and watched fascinated by the totally sexually charged expression on his face reflecting back from his mirrored image.

His fangs were bared and she ached now to feel them sinking into her, she ached to feel him convulse and spill his seed again and as she watched, the aching became the centre of their need for each other. They had to have this, they wanted it so desperately now that nothing would have stopped them.

When he felt her muscles begin to cave he pulled her down towards him, taking her breast tenderly in his hands and slowly sinking his fangs into her as she bit down onto his arm, drawing his own blood into her through the tiny puncture wounds. With each pulling of her sweet nectar she spiralled down into a darkling pool of midnight velvet scattered with the cacophony of dazzlingly lurid psychedelic colours of orgasm. Through the mist of it all she heard him call out her name over and over in his triumph. 

She lay slumped on his body not moving for several moments and it scared him witless. He had tried not to get carried away and take too much blood. He thought that he had kept himself in check but now he doubted himself. ‘Cherie, Cherie sweetheart…’ he called her. When she moved a little he let out a sigh of relief, something that he had not done since he had been turned. ‘Oh god Cherie, I thought that I had hurt you.’ He carefully rolled her over onto her back and she looked up sheepishly at him. ‘I am sorry Tom, really I didn’t mean to scare you I just … I don’t think that I have ever had an orgasm quite as earthshattering as that.’ 

Tom’s jaw dropped then his face took on a totally smug look. ‘Really? I mean you are not just saying that?’ he questioned disbelievingly. ‘Trust me,’ she said still sounding a little shaky, ‘I am not just saying it to make you feel good.’ He smirked to himself. ‘Well I have been told that I am a good …’ She poked him hard, not that poking a vampire hard did the slightest bit of damage but he got the point. She looked at his face. ‘You look all rosie’ she commented. His smirk became a grin. ‘You look satisfied.’ ‘I am,’ she said blushing. 

He became serious for a moment when he said, ‘No regrets?’ He was watching her, counting the seconds before she answered but he didn’t have to wait for she quickly assured him. ‘Tom I have no regrets. You know that I will always love Bill just as you love him but that doesn’t mean that I can’t or don’t love you.’ He nodded and was unable to speak for a moment. She suddenly realised in a blinding flash of recognition that he loved her too. He had always loved her. For Tom there had never been anyone else from the moment he had first seen her the night that Derrick had bought her to the club. ‘If I hadn’t met Bill you know that we would have been together from the start don’t you?’

Tom nodded. He understood. ‘Bill came into our lives like a dream, a beautiful dream of someone who is so very special that it just changes you. Of course he doesn’t realise that and he would think that it was the biggest load of bollocks out to hear us going on about him but there is something unique about him, he has qualities that are different to anyone that I know or will ever know. It was like he was our guardian spirit or something. I don’t know, I can’t really put it into words,’ Tom trailed off. ‘You felt it too, I knew that you did.’ Cherie was saying. ‘We were both lucky to have had him in our lives and where ever he is, whatever he does, I know that it will be the right and moral thing to do. That is the kind of man that he is.’ 

From that night onwards Tom and Cherie virtually were never apart. They became partners in every sense of the word, not just as lovers but in the club and even in Tom’s burgeoning art career. They gave Leon more responsibility for the day to day running of the club and with the time that freed up for Tom, and with Cherie as his inspiration, he took to painting with a passion. They even invested in a small gallery that they set up as a side line. On the opening night it was packed out with friends both of Cherie’s from her magazine days and Tom’s from the club. 

Tom was standing looking at one of his paintings, a particular favourite that he had done of a moonlight scene in blues, very new age and symbolic, when he had a rather odd conversation with a guest. The man in question had made his way over to him and begun to discuss the merits of oil versus water colours when two children had appeared at his side. ‘Papa I am tired,’ the beautiful little girl had said, interrupting the conversation. He looked apologetically at Tom as he explained that he had been unable to get a sitter for the children and had not wanted to miss the opening so he hoped Tom didn’t mind that he had brought them along. 

Tom was all smiles at the little girl, she was adorable. ‘Not at all, I don’t mind one bit and frankly, I hate sitters. If you are going to have kids why bother to have them if you are just going to leave them at home. Or that’s how I see it.’ The guest smiled. ‘That is my belief too. I quite agree.’ ‘Do you paint? I love to finger paint,’ the little girl said. ‘What’s your favourite colour? Can I touch your painting? I like that blue one with the pretty lady and the moon, its special isn’t it?’ Tom leant down and picked her up and carried her over to the painting so that she could take a better look at it, having quite a serious in depth conversation with her before her Father came over to collect her and take her home. 

‘It was lovely meeting you Tom. Your children must be quite something.’ Tom looked a little crestfallen. ‘I don’t have children.’ The man shook his head saying quietly, ‘Now that’s a pity. Good night.’ And with that he and the children left. ‘Whoever was that?’ Cherie asked him as she came over to him. ‘I wouldn’t have the foggiest,’ Tom shrugged, wrapping his arm around her shoulder and kissing her on the cheek. ‘What beautiful kids,’ she sighed. ‘They were weren’t they? Whoever he was he’s done a great job with those children.’ She looked at Tom. ‘You would have made a great Dad.’ He smiled a little wistfully. ‘Cherie, you will make a great Mum, I know that is what you want, you have to find someone else and …’ ‘Tom are you trying to get rid of me? Cause it’s not going to work. I would never leave you, never.’

‘I love you Tom, I will love you until the day that I die.’


	31. Chapter 31

It was May of nineteen eighty six. Halley’s Comet was visible in some parts of the world and to those of that inclination, it bought with it change. Tom was not superstitious but he knew better than to just dismiss things out of hand however, even he didn’t know just how much one simple piece of paper would make such a change to his life or to Cherie’s. A registered letter had arrived during the day via the post and he was standing in the living room looking at the envelope as though he could bore holes into it. He normally didn’t get any registered mail and it surprised him. 

Finally, when he opened it he found it was on plain old fashioned blue paper, the kind that he hadn’t seen since he was a kid and even though it looked like it had been typed up on an ancient typewriter, the print reminding him of something out of a nineteen thirties old movie, it looked reasonably genuine. It merely said that if he and Cherie could attend at the following address on Wednesday next week at dusk, they would hear something to their benefit etc and that was it.

‘What is that?’ Cherie asked coming to stand behind him, wrapping her arms around him as she read over his shoulder, ‘more junk mail?’ she asked dismissively. He looked at her. ‘Might be interesting you know. Could be a swinger’s party,’ he chuckled. She laughed out loudly. ‘Oh that would be right up your alley wouldn’t it just?’ She poked him in the ribs and he spun around with lightning speed. ‘There is only one person I want to do any swinging with and that is you.’ He began humming then started singing the words to the Exile song, I Want To Kiss You All Over. ‘I want to taste your lips, I want to be your fantasy,’ he was singing with the look on his face that always told her he was ready and wanting her badly. It was a look that never failed to push her buttons and he knew it, he could feel it through the bond.

‘Oh no you don’t, I was just about to get into the bath.’ He smirked. ‘Now you are talking.’ Reaching out to her he was too quick for her and before she knew it he had her in his arms and was in the bathroom placing her gently on her feet and running his hands up underneath her jumper to fondle her breasts. ‘Tom.’ She was laughing. ‘Hmm,’ he murmured as he pulled her jumper up and slipped his fingers under the lace cup of her bra and lifted her breasts out, teasing her nipples until they were taught. ‘I want to kiss you all over… till the night closes in,’ he was singing. ‘Tom,’ she wriggled a little but moved a little closer to him. His lips were running up her skin from her waist, tiny kisses from his cool lips were sending shivers through her as they always did. ‘You can see it in my eyes, I can feel it in your touch, you don’t have to say a thing, just let me show how much, till the night closes in,’ he sang.

‘Tom.’ She was purring now, putty in his hands and he lifted the jumper over her head, reached behind her and slid open the fastening of her bra to free her and continue his journey of kisses. ‘I love your boobs,’ he murmured with his mouthful. ‘Oh god Tom.’ She was whispering now, her voice quavering as his tongue darted over the tip of her hardened nipples followed by his lips as he gently took her in his mouth. ‘Stay with me, lay with me, holding me, loving me baby. Here with me, near with me, feeling you close to me baby,’ he sang.

‘So show me, show me everything you do, cause baby, no one does it quite like you,’ he crooned. Her hands ran down his body over his muscular buttocks and she drew him in against her, rubbing her hips against his lewdly. She heard his fangs snick and as it always did, the sound sent that delicious milky wave through her. ‘The water is getting cold,’ she purred. ‘Well we can’t have that now can we? No sense in wasting a perfectly good tub of hot soapy scented water is there?’ he asked seductively as he ran his fingers down her body and slipped them into the waistband of her tracksuit pants. He had them off and his own clothes in a pile on the floor before she could protest any further, not that she was going to that is. 

Taking her hand he helped her step down into the sunken tub and she turned still holding his hand and stayed him. The tub was lower than the floor level and from her position she now came up to his waist. She bit her lips as she looked up at him. ‘You know that I can’t resist don’t you? Can I give you a hand with anything?’ His fangs ran out a little further at the suggestive remark and he stared down at her. He stood perfectly still as he watched her lick her lips and she slowly began to kiss his thighs, inching her way towards his throbbing staff. She was teasing him mercilessly and he was in an agony, arching his back and thrusting towards her in an attempt to make her take him in her mouth but she had other ideas and continued to trail kisses and small nips up and around him, her fingers slipping into his thick thatch and gently curling his hair around them, softly massaging his skin just at the base, just lightly enough to drive him insane. 

With a blur of movement she was suddenly in his arms being lifted down onto him as he slid into the water and sank down onto the ledge in the bath, positioning her so that she was straddling him. He then lifted her again with one hand while he held himself upright and she sank down onto him. They both groaned in unison. From the first night that they had finally slept together in the true sexual sense, they had been insatiable. They were like two virgins that had discovered the pleasures of sex for the first time and could not get enough. They were never far apart, generally in reach of each other and it only took one or the other to look at each other and that would be enough. They had no inhibitions either, the timidity that had held them back had evaporated once that first hurdle had come crashing down. They did anything and everything to each other too, neither afraid to experiment or hold back with what they each found pleasurable. In short, they lived for each other.

‘So will we go?’ Tom asked later when they were in bed and the dawn was pulling him. ‘Go where?’ Cherie asked sleepily. ‘To that meeting.’ ‘Uh huh, go to sleep darling, we’ll talk about it tomorrow,’ she mumbled into his chest as he lay with his arms around her and they both drifted off. 

The rest of the week flew by and neither one of them gave it another thought until they got up on Wednesday evening and as Cherie was making a brew she found the letter on the pile of mail on the kitchen bench where they had left it the week before. ‘Oh fuck!’ she exclaimed. Tom had just walked into the kitchen wrapped in a towel and was drying his hair with another when he asked her what was the matter. ‘That bloody appointment, we forgot about it. It’s tonight, right now. Are we going or what?’ ‘Bollocks. Come on get dressed. We might as well, could be a hoot for all we know.’ And they quickly threw some clothes on and he gunned it to the address that was written in the letter.

‘Are you sure this is the place?’ Cherie asked him when they parked the car and looked around. ‘Well this is what was in the letter,’ Tom replied as they made their way into the non-descript red brick building. ‘I thought that this whole area was sort of government departments or something, full of rusty old public servants from the nineteen fifties cold war movies. You know that kind that were all shot in black and white and had MI5 spies in ancient trench coats and all of that.’ Tom shrugged as he went over to the somewhat rickety looking old fashioned lift doors and opened them. ‘God I hope that we don’t get stuck here, it looks like it could break down any minute.’ 

It didn’t break down and when they reached the third floor and got out safely they were surprised to find that the building on this floor at least was looking anything but old and shabby, in fact just the opposite. There was a long corridor with a sign on the wall opposite the lift door simply saying: ‘This Way’ and an arrow pointing towards the end of the hallway.

When they got there they found two double glass doors firmly secured and a button simple marked ‘Push’ which they did. There was a click and the doors slid back silently. Tom and Cherie looked at each other, shrugged and walked in. They were in some kind of plush reception area of what seemed to be a modern office complex, doors leading off in several directions. It was furnished with soft leather coaches and there was piped muzak playing in the back ground, all very swank and sophisticated. 

‘I am so sorry to have kept you waiting,’ a voice from behind them startled them. When they turned they got the surprise of their lives for standing in front of them was the same man that had been at the gallery opening with those two delectable children.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I Want To Kiss You All Over lyrics by Songwriters: MIKE CHAPMAN, NICKY CHINN  
> Performed by: Exile
> 
> No copyright infringement is intended.


	32. Chapter 32

‘Thank you for coming Tom and Cherie, won’t you come this way please?’ He turned and began walking down another short corridor they hadn’t noticed when they arrived. They looked at each other and hesitated before moving. 

He turned slightly and said over his shoulder, ‘Please, don’t be alarmed, no harm will come to you I promise. I hope this is a convenient time for you, particularly you Tom, I know that you would have only just risen but I thought that it is better to make it earlier in the evening for Cherie as I wasn’t sure if she kept the same kind of hours that you do,’ he smiled. ‘Wonderful opening by the way, you have a creative talent that is special Tom. I was most impressed with your works,’ he said pleasantly.

At the mention of him rising Tom’s mouth twitched, his fangs beginning to slide down but Cherie had taken his hand quickly and shook her head in a warning attempt to keep him under control. ‘There really is no need to be alarmed, you are amongst friends,’ he stopped and turned. ‘Please do not feel threatened. I promise that no harm will come to either of you.’ ‘Who are you?’ Tom asked. ‘I am so sorry it was very rude of me not to introduce myself. My name is Childs, Andrew Childs,’ and he took Cherie’s hand and shook it while nodding deeply to Tom. ‘Now if you don’t mind, follow me, you will be more comfortable in my rooms.’

The room that Andrew took them to was furnished with a plush couch against one wall and two deep comfortable arm chairs sitting at angles to a modern modular desk. There was a large print behind the desk hanging on the wall depicting the pyramids in the moonlight. Potted palms were in two corners of the room and on the desk was a carefully polished photo frame with a picture of the two children smiling angelically for the camera. A modern commander phone sat next to a calendar and pen and paper set that were the only other objects of interest. The walls were painted the apricot and beige theme that was all the rage in interior decorating at the moment and the whole room had a rather nice pleasant and happy feel to it. 

‘Please sit down, make yourselves comfortable.’ They sat and stared at him wondering what on earth this was all about. ‘What is happiness?’ Andrew asked. Of all the things that Tom and Cherie had thought may be going on his question was the last thing that either of them would have guessed he would say. When neither answered he went on. ‘Are you happy? What would make you happy?’ Cherie looked at Tom and Tom just continued to stare at him. ‘Cherie if you could have anything in the whole world what would make you happy?’ 

She didn’t know why but for some reason Cherie didn’t feel as indisposed to answer this as Tom may have been feeling and after a moment she said quietly, ‘Children.’ ‘And what if I could make that happen for you?’ Tom jumped up baring his fangs. Much to both their shock and surprise, Andrew sat perfectly calmly behind his desk and bared his fangs back. ‘You weren’t expecting that were you? I am not surprised really.’ ‘Who are you?’ Tom asked again. 

‘Let me ask you again Tom, before I answer you. What would make you happy?’ Tom looked across at Cherie and sighed resignedly, ‘For Cherie to have children.’ She held out her hand to him and he took it and gently squeezed it. ‘What if she could have children Tom, what if I told you she could have your child.’ He held his hand up to stop any protest that he knew would come. ‘I am not a young man Tom and yet you saw my children and yes, they are mine despite being vampire, I sired them. I could make that happen for you too.’

‘I am not at liberty to go into details but I do know of your predicament and let’s just say that, through friends, I am prepared to help you. I am, or I was, a practicing doctor and I specialised in genetic research before I was turned. I and my colleagues have access to many research facilities and one of them happens to be a small cryogenics laboratory that you once had reason to use.’ Tom’s mouth dropped. Cherie sat forward, a light in her eyes. 

‘After some preliminary testing I can arrange for things to happen for you both, if that is what you want?’ ‘But I don’t understand,’ Tom was puzzled, ‘how did you know about us, who told you and why would you do this for us?’ Andrew shook his head. ‘As I said, I can’t go into the specifics but let’s just say that you have some very influential friends, whether you know it or not. Now I know that this is a shock to you both and you may prefer to discuss it privately, but I have a consultation room ready for you right now if needs be and you are willing.’

‘Tom,’ Cherie whispered and he turned to her, tears were pouring down her face. ‘You know that I love you beyond words and that you make me happy, happier than I ever thought possible but if I thought that I could have your child, give you a child of your own blood, a Compton, it would be like keeping the line going. And Tom, not just your line but …’ Tom’s eyes widened. ‘This is a gift Tom, a gift to us both and to him, it would be like keeping our bond alive, part of him would be with us always too and it would be the three of us together again, your blood and his blood and our blood. I want your child more than anything on earth. Let me do this for you and for us.’ 

He got up and knelt at her feet, taking her hand and kissing it gently. ‘I love you Cherie, I have loved you from the moment that I first saw you. I never expected to be able to give you the kind of happiness that you deserved, he didn’t either. If this is what will fulfil you and give you joy then I am the happiest of creatures.’

‘I thought as much,’ Andrew said pleased, ‘from the moment that I saw the two of you I knew that this was meant to be. Now Cherie, we need to get you examined and just some routine tests done then we will see what happens. Oh and Tom, it might be an idea to restrain yourself a little from taking too much at the moment. I know that it helped my wife when we were going through the processes.’ Tom nodded. ‘Don’t worry, I will do anything, anything that you advise. I want this more than anything in the world and am willing to do anything that you say that will be for the benefit of Cherie and her health.’ Andrew smiled. ‘Fine, if you would like to follow me Cherie we can do some preliminaries right now if you are ready.’ 

‘Andrew there is just one thing,’ Tom hesitated, embarrassed now by what he was going to ask. ‘I mean I don’t know if this is possible, I don’t know anything about the processes or what has to be done or how you… do it but, could I be there when, well when it gets done?’ ‘You mean the insemination?’ Tom nodded embarrassed. Andrew nodded smiling. ‘You know Tom, I was the one to do the deed as they say when my wife conceived with our children. Even though it may appear to be terribly scientific, it was still a special moment for the two of us so yes, of course you can. It will be your seed that you will be impregnating Cherie with, and with luck from your seed a baby will grow.’

‘It is only the method that will be different, the result will be the miracle that will grow from the love that you both share.’


	33. Chapter 33

‘Can we talk?’ Cherie asked Tom when he came into the living room one night after rising. ‘You’re up early are you okay?’ He sat down beside her and kissed her good evening. ‘I’m fine it’s just that I have been thinking.’ Tom looked at her and rolled his eyes. ‘Oh yes,’ he said rather doubtfully. Every time Cherie got one of her brain waves it generally meant that their world was turned upside down. She was every bit as creative as he was but the last time she had one of her great ideas it meant that they had lost the bathroom because she converted it into a dark room for her photography. He didn’t really mind in the long run as her passion had turned into a lucrative addition to the gallery and her stark black and white pictures, with her hand colouring, was turning out to be a smash hit with the arty London set. 

‘Okay what is it this time?’ he laughed. ‘Well you know how we both have always agreed that we would always leave Bill’s room just exactly the way it was when he… when he left?’ Tom nodded. Even after all this time, and it had been nearly four years now, it was still hard for both of them to talk about it without becoming terribly sentimental. ‘Uh huh, that’s what we agreed to,’ he nodded. ‘Well, umm you see, we umm, well..’ Tom looked at her, ‘We what sweetheart?’ She looked down and blushed and looked up into his eyes, ‘Well you see we could really use the room or we will have to get a bigger place.’ ‘Why do we have to get a bigger place, there’s enough room here for us to sink the Titanic?’ 

‘Well you see, there would be if it was just the two of us but with the four of us,’ and she took his hand and placed it gently on her belly. ‘With the four of us? What are you talking about with the four of …’ He looked down at his hand on her and then the penny dropped. ‘Oh my god. Are you sure, are you completely sure?’ She nodded. ‘But when, I mean how long have you known? How are you? What should I do? Do you need anything? Have you taken your vitamins today? Can I get you a cushion, do you want a drink. I am going to cook you something, what should I cook you? You don’t feel sick do you?’ He stood up and got half way to the kitchen then sped back and gently lifted her feet placing a cushion under them and resting them on the coffee table. 

He sped off but was back in moments with a glass of water before shaking his head and grabbing it from her, speeding back to the kitchen and returning with a glass of milk before disappearing again for a few moments and returning with wholemeal bread and marmite. ‘Now I want you to eat slowly and chew everything thirty two times.’ ‘Tom,’ she laughed, ‘it’s okay really. You will be worn out if you keep this up for the next seven months and besides, watching you is making me dizzy.’ He was at her side immediately and holding her hand. ‘Are you okay, should I call Andrew? Do I need to get you to the hospital?’ She was really laughing hard now. ‘Tom, I am fine. Now please just sit down so that we can talk okay.’ 

He sat down beside her but fidgeted with plumping up cushions and placing them behind her. ‘Does your back hurt? Would you like a hot water bottle?’ ‘Tom, enough!’ He looked a little crestfallen and she felt bad. ‘Tom all I need right now is you.’ His face lit up. ‘That’s all I need. Andrew said that I am fine and that everything looks fine with the babies.’ He shook his head in wonder. ‘I am going to be a father and you are going to be a mummy. You are so going to be the most beautiful mother in the world and our kids, our kids are going to be special. Oh shite, twins!’

She then started laughing and couldn’t stop. ‘Oh I am sorry but it’s so typical of us isn’t it? We never do anything by halves do we?’ Tom swelled out his chest a little and looked smug. ‘It’s the Compton line, we excel at doing everything one hundred percent all the way or nothing. Actually that is on our family crest.’ ‘What is?’ she asked interested. ‘Tout bien ou rien,’ he said with some pride, ‘all well or nothing.’ She smiled. ‘That is really rather impressive and you know something, that is exactly what you and Bill are like, it is all or nothing with the both of you.’ 

Tom smiled too. ‘Wouldn’t Bill be over the moon for us? Can you picture his face?’ Talking of Bill came easier for them now, or at times it did, but they still had their moments. He always seemed to be with them in spirit and it was something that they treasured. ‘Tom I know that it is only early days as far as the babies go and we don’t even know yet whether it will be boys or girls or one of each but I was wondering…’ Tom knew what she was going to say without her even saying it and he nodded. ‘I love you Tom Compton.’ He stroked her face gently. ‘I love you too Cherie Compton.’ 

Her eyes widended. ‘Cherie Compton?’ Tom slipped down onto his knees at her feet and took her hand. ‘Cherie will you marry me?’ Tears glistened in her eyes. ‘Oh Tom, I will marry you if we can. Is that even possible?’ He smiled. ‘It may not be in human terms but if you are willing we can perform a vampire ceremony. I am not sure how it works really but I can find out if you like. But really Cherie, as far as I am concerned we are already married and have been from the moment that we first…’ ‘That we first made love? That is how I feel too Tom. We don’t need a ceremony or a piece of paper to make it legal, we both know what is in our hearts and that is more real to me than anything else.’ 

He took her in his arms and kissed her tenderly. Sometimes there was such tenderness to him that he made her cry from the sheer emotional connection that they had. They were blood bonded but they were more than that, they were every romantic cliché in the book. If there were ever two people that were meant to be together then this was them and now with the babies on the way, there would be nothing that could separate them, nothing that is until time took Cherie away but that was something that neither of them had spoken about, ever. 

‘I am so happy sweetheart.’ His eyes were rimmed with tears as he held her. ‘So am I, you make me so happy.’ He brushed her lips again and like it always did, it set them on fire. He gave a little moan. ‘What’s wrong?’ she asked. He bit his lip and looked down at his pants, her eyes following his. ‘Look what you do to me. And now well, umm…’ ‘Tom I am pregnant, not a basket case. Do you really think that we can’t do it?’ 

She ran her hand down his chest and into the waist of his pants feeling through his thick thatch for his hardness. He gave a thrust of his hips as she took him in her hand. ‘Cherie, don’t. You know that I want you and if you keep it up …’ She smiled a wicked little smile. ‘But darling, it is up to you to do the keeping up and I already spoke to Andrew and he said that there is absolutely no reason why we should not be going at it like rabbits. Well, he didn’t use those words but he made it plain that sex is fine when we are pregnant.’

He grinned when she said "we are pregnant" and then smirked at her. ‘Well in that case...’ He shrugged off his pants and pulled up her skirt and had her lying on her back before the smile had even left her lips. ‘You know what they say about pregnant women don’t you?’ he asked. ‘No what do they say?’ ‘Well I have read in a magazine that men find their wives extra attractive when they are pregnant so expect a lot of extra attention cause I am finding you so attractive right now.’ 

And he showed her how much extra attention she could expect.


	34. Chapter 34

‘Tom, are you ready?’ ‘Hmm?’ Tom mumbled, his mouth full of the end of his paint brush as he stood looking at the canvas mural he had been working on for the baby’s room. They had built an extra loft space and rearranged everything except Bill’s room so that they now had a whole extra floor for the twins when they arrived. Tom was putting his heart and soul into helping Cherie decorate. The last month or so of her pregnancy had been so tiring for her. She was enormous now and he just loved it. She glowed even though she felt like she waddled everywhere and her back killed her at times. 

Tom literally couldn’t keep his hands off her. He was continually touching her belly to feel their heartbeats. He thought that she was the most beautiful that she had ever looked and took endless photos of her in all her stages of pregnancy. He even insisted on doing a weekly series of naked portraits of her. ‘You are beautiful and so is your body. That is our children growing within you and I don’t want to miss one single moment and I want to have all these precious moments for us to look back on,’ he told her. Having seen all the shots that he took she had to agree, he made her look more beautiful than she felt most days for sure. She was glad she had them and they both treasured them.

‘Tom, are you ready?’ ‘Ready for what sweetheart?’ he asked absentmindedly. ‘Tom Compton, get your arse over here now and bring the car keys, I am having the babies.’ Tom dropped the paint brush on the floor and swung into panicked action. Even though they had practiced the drill over and over he was a mess now. ‘I’ll get your bags, you get the car keys,’ he said as he rushed past her, grabbing the bag that she had packed weeks ago and zipping down to the underground garage. ‘Dam,’ he said as he dropped the bag on the floor next to the car and felt for the keys. He zipped back up and grabbed them from the bowl on the coffee table and ran back down to unlock the boot. Right bags in the boot and car engine warming up, what else he thought. 

He looked rather sheepishly at Cherie when he zipped back up the stairs to where she was still standing. ‘Forget something?’ she asked laughing. He picked her up so gently that you would have thought that she was made of the most fragile glass and he carried her down to the car, gently sitting her on the front seat that he had set back and in a semi reclining position for her comfort. He had placed a cushion on the seat for her if she needed it and rugs and towels and a bucket in case she was nauseous and a multitude of paraphernalia that she didn’t need but was extremely grateful to him for this thoughtfulness. 

Andrew Childs had arranged everything for the safe delivery at a private facility. It was all very discreet and inconspicuous. He of course would be in attendance much to Tom’s relief. The two of them had become quite friendly, and they had even been to his home and shared a meal, well Cherie and his lovely wife Jane had shared a meal while Andrew had arranged for donors to be present for Tom and himself. 

He had explained to Tom how he was setting up a blood bank of sorts for those like Tom and himself and their compatriots who preferred to mainstream. ‘It’s the way of the future Tom and one day hopefully, we will no longer have to keep it undercover and hidden. One day who knows, it may be as normal as anything else. The future is looking brighter each year but it is a slow process, still we have all the time in the world don’t we?’ 

Tom managed to get them there in one piece and they were greeted by Andrew at reception. ‘Okay Tom, you can leave it all to us now.’ Tom looked at him with a hard stare. ‘I am not going anywhere, I want to be with Cherie for every single minute.’ Andrew laughed. ‘I had the feeling that you would say that. Come on let’s get the show on the road then shall we. We have light tight rooms prepared but if it goes on for a while and you get the bleeds I am going to have to insist in you resting.’ 

Less than four hours later Tom was sitting with tears in his eyes holding his two precious bundles as Cherie looked on happily. ‘Andrew said you were disgustingly quick and that the babies are absurdly healthy. It must be all the Compton blood,’ he said proudly. She had never seen him look so happy. He was ecstatic as he held them in his arms, cooing at them and wishing them a happy birthday. ‘Did you know that this is the first day of the rest of your lives? Do you know how very much you are loved and cherished? Your Papa loves you so very much and your Mummy does too.’ 

‘And is your Papa going to change nappies and do feeds too?’ Cherie asked amused by his carrying on. He looked up beaming. ‘You bet he is love. Anything you can do I will do too.’ She raised her eyebrows sceptically. ‘What? I will, you wait and see,’ he insisted. ‘Oh I see, anything?’ ‘You bet.’ ‘Okay, I can’t wait to see you breast feeding then,’ she chuckled. ‘Oh, hmm I see well no… but you could … express!’ ‘Well you have been doing your research haven’t you? And I thought that you thought all those pre natal classes were such a snooze.’ 

He smiled at her and began to softly hum then quietly sing as he rocked the babies in his arms. ‘They didn’t have you where I came from, Never knew the best was yet to come. How long do you want to be loved, Is forever enough cause I’m never never giving you up.’ 

He got up quietly so as not to disturb the now sleeping babies and laid them in their little cribs at the side of the bed. ‘How are you feeling? Are you sore?’ he asked her gently as he sat on the edge of the bed and took her hand. She wriggled a bit trying to get into a more comfortable position. ‘Really considering everything, I am feeling pretty fine and I think that you are right, it is all that Compton blood I have had, it’s pretty good stuff Tom.’ She looked at him lovingly. 

‘I love you Cherie, have I told you that today? I want to tell you that every day. I can’t tell you how happy you make me and how very perfect my life is now.’ She looked into his eyes and fell in love with him all over again. ‘Tom you have given me everything that I ever dreamt of, everything. If happiness could be measured, and I could do it justice then today, right at this moment, there would not be enough room in the whole world for the happiness that I am feeling right now.’ 

‘I hope that where ever Bill is, that he too has found the happiness that we have. That would make everything complete for me, to know that somewhere, sometime, he too can find the joy and hope for the future that we have.’ She looked at him and moved his hand to her lips kissing it gently.

‘To Bill where ever he is, may he live and love in peace and happiness for all his days to come,’ Tom saluted him and he leant down and brushed her lips with his.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song Lullaby by The Dixie Chicks
> 
> No copy right infringement is intended, the lyrics have merely been used to emphasise the joy Tom felt at the miracle of his children's birth.


	35. Chapter 35

Epilogue Part 1

‘Mummy, Daddy, where are you?’ Sarah Caroline Compton came around the corner of the doorway and into the drawing room. ‘Eww, will you two knock it off or at least get a room,’ she complained as she saw them sitting wrapped around each other and kissing passionately. ‘You’re too old for that kind of thing.’ Tom and Cherie stopped kissing but sat locked arm in arm smiling at their daughter. ‘I am not too old,’ Tom shot back at her, ‘I don’t look a day over twenty nine cheeky and to me your mum looks as good as she did the day that we met.’ Sarah laughed and leant down and gave him a kiss on the cheek as Cherie stood up and hugged her. ‘True Blood Daddy?’ she said walking through the dining area on her way to the kitchen?’ ‘Thanks love. Where’s that lazy brother of yours then love?’ ‘Billy’s just parking the car then he’ll be in,’ she called back.

‘Honestly Mummy, I don’t know how you can stand living out here in this ancient ruin at the weekends. I mean how you could ever bear to spend your time here instead of at the apartment beats me.’ Cherie laughed. ‘It took us a long time to get this place back in shape. It had been left to go to wrack and ruin for so long and we were very lucky when the laws were changed and your Father could reclaim what was rightly for his. And don’t forget one day all this will be yours and Billy’s.’ Sarah let out a huge sigh. ‘Oh Mums, this is two thousand and eleven, who cares for old piles like this these days.’

‘Sarah Caroline!’ Cherie admonished, ‘this is your heritage and don’t you forget it. This house has history to it, it has been through hundreds of years of Compton family history and one day you will appreciate it for what it is.’ Sarah sighed. ‘I know. I am sorry. You know that I love this place really, I am just a bit tired.’ The micro wave dinged and she got out Tom’s blood. ‘Be a good girl and take that into you Father will you? I've put the kettle on, tea won’t be long now.’

She walked back in the drawing room smiling. ‘Here’s your brew Daddy,’ she said, handing Tom the warmed bottle and threw herself down on the couch next to him. She grabbed the TV remote and quickly changed channels surfing through the myriad of what she called junk looking for something really interesting without much hope. At that moment the large old oak front door slammed and a voice could be heard yelling from the hallway. ‘Where are you all?’ Sarah yelled back, ‘We’re in here in the drawing room.’ ‘How many times have I told you not to yell?’ Tom said exasperated. ‘Sorry Daddy, keep forgetting your super-sonic hearing.’ 

Quick footsteps coming down the hall were followed by the entrance into the room of a tall, dark haired and good looking young man with piercing blue eyes. Tom looked up and smiled. ‘Hi Dad, how’s it going? Where’s Mum?’ Tom shook his head a little as he looked at him and marvelled. It was uncanny the resemblance, Billy or Bill as he preferred, was all Compton. ‘She’s just finishing off cooking dinner, it will be ready in about half an hour. How was your day? Everything set for the club tonight? Did you sort out that issue with the wine wholesaler? How’s the album going? Will you manage to get back into the studio sometime soon?’ 

‘Take it easy Dad, everything’s fine, no dramas, it’s all sorted. You worry too much.’ Tom smiled. ‘I know, it’s just hard to let go that’s all.’ Billy patted him on the shoulder as he walked past on his way to the kitchen. ‘Really Dad you should retire, with all the squillions that you have from Grandad’s share portfolio you can afford to. I still can’t believe that you were finally able to get your hands on all those stocks after all these years. He sure had insight to have invested in the future the way he did. What a guy, wish that I had known him.’

‘Hi Mum, do you need a hand?’ Billy strolled up and hugged Cherie. He was taller than her and she looked up and smiled at him, her eyes lighting up as she saw him. ‘No it’s fine love. Go and sit and talk to your Dad, you two have hardly seen each other this week we’ve all been so busy. Dinner won’t be long now. How was the traffic? Is it still raining?’ ‘Traffic was a shocker but then it always is on a Friday night but it’s stopped raining so that will be good, we will be able to finish restoring that ruin of a summer house, although I really don’t know why anyone would want to, it’s pretty rank and disgusting, a regular mausoleum if you ask me.’ ‘William Thomas, never ever let your Dad hear you saying that, that summer house has a special meaning for him and it is something that he wants to do so how about you just humour him?’ ‘Ok Mum, will do.’

He wandered back to the drawing room, poked at the logs in the fireplace then grabbed the remote from Sarah’s hands and flicked the channel. ‘Heh I was watching that,’ she grumbled. ‘Tough, I’ve got it now. I want to catch the weather forecast so we can plan what we are doing over the weekend.' ‘But I was watching EW, give it back right now.’ Billy snorted, ‘You and your cheesy entertainment shows, I don’t know how you can stomach that crowd that you get around with, they are so shallow. Really Sarah, you are too good for that lot.’ ‘Well that crowd buy a lot of stuff from the gallery and they are very creative and appreciate Daddy’s paintings and Mummy’s photography too,’ she replied indignantly.

‘That reminds me,’ she said turning to Tom, ‘Daddy I forgot to tell you, you know that retro painting that you did with Mummy watching you singing in the band, that one where you were doing the duet with that Jim Morrison look alike, that hunky guy in the black leather pants?’ Tom looked up at Sarah, ‘Yes what about it pet?’ ‘Well I sold it. It was really cool. I got a call this morning about it. The guy was really cool. He had seen it online and he must have really wanted it because he didn’t even ask for a cut rate or anything. And he was so nice. We ended up chatting for ever so long. We got talking about art and I was telling him about your painting and Mummy’s photography and how Billy and I were both sort of creative in our own ways too and he was ever so interested. He….’

Tom was about to say something when the news report on the TV in the background caught his attention. The reporter was introducing a piece about mainstreaming and hate crimes against Vampires and as Tom looked up he caught the opening of an interview. ‘Cherie, Cherie come in here,’ he was calling urgently, interrupting Sarah mid-sentence. ‘Daddy what is it?’ Sarah looked at him startled and Billy immediately turned his attention to the TV. ‘What is it Tom,’ Cherie came running in at the sound of the urgency in his voice, wiping her hands on a tea towel as she hurried in. He looked at her and patted the couch motioning her to sit down on the other side of him to Sarah and pointed to the TV, turning up the volume.

‘We talked to a spokesman for the American Vampire League today, William Thomas Compton, Vampire King of Louisiana. Thanks for your time today.’ ‘My pleasure Natalie,’ he said with a pronounced southern drawl. ‘Heh they said his name was William Thomas Compton, that’s my name,’ Billy exclaimed. ‘Mummy what’s wrong?’ Sarah was asking too, ‘You’ve gone white as a ghost and you look like you are going to cry. And Daddy you do too. What’s the matter with you two?’ 

‘Shh,’ Tom hissed, ‘I missed what he said. Now please, quiet.’ ‘Hate is a powerful force but hate never wins out in the long run.’ ‘Well thank you for your comments. That was William Thomas Compton speaking to us from Bon Temps, Louisiana. And now it’s back to you Tracy in the studio.’ ‘Moving on to other leading news today….’ Tom turned off the sound and looked at Cherie. Their eyes met and were filled with tears. 

‘Oh Tom, it’s been so long. He hasn’t changed, he is still as beautiful as he was.’ Tom nodded unable to speak. Sarah and Billy looked at each other. Tom wrapped his arms around her and they both held onto each other. ‘I still love him,’ Tom said softly to her. ‘So do I,’ Cherie said too. 

‘Oh, Daddy how odd, I just remembered,’ Sarah sounded excited, ‘well it’s the strangest thing. Did they say that that spokesman was from Bon Temps cause it’s the weirdest thing, I am almost sure that is the address that I have to send it to, the painting. Hang on I have the details about it in an email on my iPhone.’ Sarah quickly grabbed her handbag and rummaged through it till she found her phone and checked while Tom and Cherie sat silently hugging each other. ‘Wow, that’s it, Bon Temps, care of Ms J Hamby. Come to think of it,’ she looked over at Billy and studied him for a moment, ‘who was that guy on TV and how come he has the same name as Billy? Hey, he even looks like him.’ 

They all looked across at Billy and right at that moment, whether it was a trick of the light or something else, right at that moment he had never looked more like Bill in his life.


	36. Chapter 36

Epilogue Part 2

‘Okay you two, what’s this all about? Spill it, you know a King? And how come he has my name?’ Tom looked at Cherie. ‘Well it’s a long story,’ Tom said. ‘Oh no, you aren’t going to get out of it that easily, we have the whole weekend don’t we Sarah and we are not going anywhere till we hear this are we?’ Sarah nodded. ‘Billy’s right. You may as well just fess up, there is something that you are not telling us and its really emotional judging by the reaction that you two have had, so spill the beans.’

‘Well, it all started before you two were born when your mother and I met.’ Cherie shook her head. ‘Tom it started before then, it started with the summer house. Tell them, it’s time.’ He nodded, taking her hand and kissing it. ‘I have never really told you what happened to me, I never really wanted you to know about your Uncle Robert, my brother, but you aren’t kids anymore so you really deserve to hear the whole story.’ Both Billy and Sarah stared at him and began asking questions at the same time. ‘You have a brother Robert?’ Sarah asked. ‘The summer house, what the fuck has the summer house got to do with a vampire King in Louisiana?’ Billy exclaimed looking bewildered. 

It was some hours later, after breaking for dinner and they were all now sitting in front of the fire, when Tom finally stopped speaking. ‘So you mean that we were kind of like IVF babies?’ Sarah asked. ‘Well not really. Your Father is your Father, he was still human when he, umm well your Grandfather was really into hereditary and all that, he was a man of vision. I just wish that I had known him,’ Cherie said. ‘But Mummy, if you hadn’t fallen preggas what would have happened?’ Sarah looked at them both questioningly. ‘You would not have been born obviously.’ Cherie laughed a little. ‘That’s not what I meant. I mean would you have stayed together?’ 

‘I will love your Father till the day I die, just as we both will love Bill always. I know that is hard for you two to imagine but the three of us had a bond, it really was like a blood bond but for your Father and Bill, the blood bond was in the Compton line, in their DNA and nothing to do with being Vampire. And blood tells. You know Billy, there are times that we are both so reminded of Bill looking at you. It’s almost like that part of the Compton line lives in you.’

‘I told him about us,’ Sarah said in a soft voice. ‘I didn’t even know him but I told him how very much we were loved, how you two had been the greatest parents and how proud we were of you both. I told him about Billy and the club and his singing career and about the gallery and my art and writing. I thought that he was just being really super polite because he sounded so interested. You know he said that he had just redecorated his home and he had somewhere really special that he wanted the painting for. And just before he hung up he said something that I thought was really odd but now it makes sense.’

Tom and Cherie were listening intently. Their emotions were doing somersaults as they waited for Sarah to tell them what Bill had said. ‘He said to tell my parents that love is all that counts and that undying love is never forgotten, not one single day that passes, when you truly love and care for those special to you, you do not ever think of them without being happy for their happiness. He said that it doesn’t matter how far apart in distance or years you are, you always love someone just as much as the first day that you met and nothing will ever change that no matter what. He said that it is all about sharing the love that you have and it is to be treasured and never forgotten.’ 

Cherie stifled a small sob and struggled to regain her composure while Tom wrapped his arm around her for support, but he too was feeling overwhelmed with emotions. ‘He sounded like he really understood real love, genuine deep and lasting love. Almost like he knew that no matter what happens in life, once you have loved someone that much then nothing and no one else that comes along will ever part you from that love and what you are feeling in your heart. It’s kind of silly but I had the feeling that he had been through some kind of really traumatic love story recently and that he sort of knew and appreciated me telling him about how much you two love each other and how happy we all are in our lives together,’ Sarah said softly, shaking her head as she remembered Bill’s words. She faded off into silence, lost and pondering a creature that she would never meet but felt a palpable connection to.

Billy too sat lost in thought about his name sake and how strange it was that he was so very similar to someone he had never met but now felt an incredibly tight bond to through their ancestral connections. Up until that night he had barely given a thought to all that palaver as he termed it, any thoughts about heritage had only been fleeting, not to be taken seriously, if at all, and then only in a derisive fashion to poke fun at. 

‘Now come on you two, it’s time that you got to bed. You’ve had a really long day at work and it’s after four am. The dawn will be coming on and your Father and I need to get things tidied up,’ Cherie managed to say, breaking the silence that had engulfed them all. Sarah got up first and hugged Cherie and Tom. ‘It’s a beautiful love story, I’ve never told you, but I hope that one day I find the kind of love that you two have. Night Mummy, night Daddy.’ She kissed them and left the room calling out to Billy to see if he was coming. ‘In a minute Sarah,’ he called back. 

‘You know I never really appreciated family until tonight, I mean I love you both to pieces but well you know what I mean. I always thought that hereditary and all that was a load of crap but I’ve changed my mind. I want you to be proud of me Dad, and I want to make Grandad and,’ he thought for a moment, ‘I don’t know why, but I want to make Bill proud of me too. Night Mum,’ he kissed Cherie on the cheek, ‘night Dad,’ and much to Tom’s surprise he hugged him. ‘And thanks.’ Tom looked at him as he asked, ‘What for Billy?’ ‘For having us, that’s all,’ he smiled that knowing charming smile of Bill's as he looked at them both with his shining sapphire blue eyes, 'I am right chuffed that you have.'

When Billy had left the room Tom turned to Cherie and took her in his arms. ‘You know that Bill did this, he was the one that gave us our children. He must have arranged it all before he left. He could see couldn’t he?’ She nodded and said rather thoughtfully, ‘That was so noble of him. Tom, I don’t know why he left and it nearly killed me, nearly killed both of us when he did, but I somehow have the feeling that he left because he had a vision or a purpose that he couldn't ignore, that was in him at his very core, and that it was bigger than just the three of us. Tonight seeing him, well it just proved how right he was to do what he did.’

‘There was always something noble and truly compassionate about him. From the very first moment that I met him in the dam summer house I felt,’ he paused trying to find the right words, ‘I felt comforted just being near him. He is the most sincere person that I have ever met. In some ways he turned my world upside down. He saved me and yet, from that first night that he walked into my life, I changed. I wanted always to be near him, to see him and just be close to him. I would have done anything, absolutely anything to make him happy. I have never felt like that with anyone else but I loved him as deeply as anyone can love. That is how dear he was and still is to me. I am proud to say that I know him, there is no one finer than him, he is the whole package.’ 

Cherie was standing by the hearth now, staring into the fire listening to him when he walked over to her and took her in his arms again. She looked up at him with tears in her eyes. ‘Hey, what’s the matter?’ She shook her head trying to gather her thoughts together enough to speak. ‘I never want it to end,’ she said quietly. ‘What don’t you want to end sweetheart?’ ‘This, us, you, me, Bill ... everything!' She emphasised everything emphatically, gripping him tightly to her. ‘Tom it’s time.’ She looked at him imploringly. ‘I know what you are going to say and we have said it all before,’ she went on before he could interrupt. ‘It was different, the kids were younger then but they are adults now, they have their own lives and after tonight, now that they know the whole story, I know that they will understand.’

‘Cherie you know that I don’t want this for you.’ ‘But Tom it is so different now to when you were … turned. With True Blood the world is ours, the future is ours. Even Bill said it tonight, hate never wins. He is right, he is always right and you know it. Tonight listening to him, hearing his voice again, it just made me think. It just gave me so much hope. It some how feels that it was meant to be, tonight was meant to happen for a reason, it is right. And I can’t bear the thought that one day I will leave you and you will be on your own. I have told you, I never want to be apart. I want to be with you for eternity and you can do this for me, you can give this to me. I have always, and will always love you, for all eternity and one day, one day the three of us will be together again, just like we were always meant to be, I just know it, but until then…’ 

Tom nodded. He could not fight it any longer. He knew that one day soon, very soon ...

‘Some time in the future when you rise from the darkness my sweetheart, I will take your hand. You are mine, my eternal love, my life, my soul and we will walk in the darkness together, never to be separated till the end of time itself my love, I promise you,' he whispered to her, 'and then, then we three can be together as we have always been meant to be….’

‘Bill, Tom and Cherie.’


	37. Chapter 37

 

Epilogue Part 3

 

‘Bill where are you?’ ‘I’m in here Jess, in my office,’ Bill called back at the sound of her voice. He looked up as she walked in and her face broke out into a smile at the sight of him. ‘That express delivery consignment from the UK has arrived, do you want me to unwrap it?’ ‘No!’ Bill almost shouted at her. ‘Sorry, I didn’t mean to yell,’ he said quickly, looking into her crumpled face and he got up immediately, walking around his desk to hug her to him. 

Sometimes it was so hard to forget how very young and sensitive she was. She had done a lot of growing up lately but still, he thought, she was not much more than an impressionable teenager. ‘It’s been a trying few days,’ he said quietly. He had made the decision to spare Eric and let him go, just before he had ordered the picture online and with his decision he had felt Sookie, felt the overwhelming pain of the loss of her. He knew, he felt her; she was with him. He sighed deeply, something that he didn’t do normally but then this was not a normal night.

‘Bill are you alright?’ Jessica was looking at him with a worried look on her face. There was something so sad about him tonight and it hurt her to see him like this. ‘I am fine,’ he said lying, ‘now come on, where is that delivery. I have something very special to show you.’ How ironical that tonight of all nights this had come. Perhaps in some way it was meant to be. He sighed to himself again as he walked into the hallway with his arm wrapped around Jessica’s shoulder. 

Bill picked up the large carefully packaged painting and instead of returning to his office he lead Jessica up to his bedroom, much to her surprise. ‘Bill I thought that this was something that you wanted for your office?’ Jess was asking him, wondering what it was and why on earth he would be taking it to his room. The curiosity was now killing her.

He undid the carefully packed crate in the blink of an eye and with excruciating care, he extracted the painting, standing it leaning against the bed as he stepped back to look at it.  Jess was looking over his shoulder and let out a gasp as she took in the portrait. ‘Why Bill,’ she exclaimed, ‘that’s you! But who is that with you, he looks, why he looks almost like he could be your brother? And who is that girl, she is so very pretty?

Despite Bill’s normal self-control, he could not help himself when he let out a small sob. Jessica turned quickly and looked up at him. His eyes were red rimmed with tears. ‘Bill, what is it? Who are they? I can feel how very much they mean to you.’ She wrapped her arms around him attempting to console him. Whatever he was experiencing over the last few days had spilled over in an emotional moment the minute he looked at this painting. ‘Until you, he was the closest I had ever come to having a… a progeny. They were my friends and they still are. They were everything to me, until Sook…’ he swallowed, ‘until.’ His voice faded and he looked away. 

He then seemed to snap out of it and turning, he hugged Jessica tightly to him. ‘Now, now I have you. And I thank God every day that I do. Have I told you how very proud of you that I am? Do you know what a beautiful woman you are turning into and how very much that I love you?’ 

Jessica’s face broke into the most beaming of smiles. ‘Bill I love you too. I am so proud of you. Not just because of what you are doing for all of us, for our kind but…’ she hesitated, unsure of whether to say what she was really thinking, what she really thought was the crux of all his pain. She was young and naïve enough to believe that speaking the truth no matter what, was the only way that she could live and to suffer the consequences of her thoughts was something that she would willingly bear. 

‘Bill, if Sookie loves you she will come back. She needs to grow up and to learn to love you in a way that you deserve. She has to realise how very much that you love her and how much you have sacrificed for her, to protect her. And if she doesn’t then well, you will always have me by your side, no matter what. Nothing will ever change that, nothing that can ever happen will make me doubt you or leave you. You know that don’t you?’

Bill’s eyes were shining as he looked into hers. Yes, his young progeny was growing up and his heart was bursting with love and pride for her. He hugged her to him again. ‘How about you get a couple of True Bloods warmed up while I hang this and then we have a talk, just you and me. The dawn will be coming in an hour or so, would you like that, just to sit and talk?’ ‘Oh yes Bill, I would love that, I will be back in a flash,’ she said as she sped out the door and down the stairs.

While gone, Bill carefully hung the painting on the wall opposite his bed. He wanted it to be the first thing he saw when he awoke and the last thing that he saw before the darkness took him each dawn. 

He sat for a moment on the end of his newly refurbished bed and stared off remembering those days that had passed with Tom and Cherie. A smile played on the corners of his mouth as he recalled snatches of moments that the three of them had shared. He loved the two of them so much, they were as close, as close as he was with Jess and just as bonded but in a different way. The world that they had shared was a different world and he was suddenly struck with just how very right he had been to play whatever small part in changing it for the better that he had. It had been one of the hardest decisions of his existence to leave them but he had somehow always hoped and believed that it would work out the way he hoped and after his recent conversation with Sarah, well he was right chuffed to have believed in it. He chuckled quietly to himself at the thought of being ‘chuffed’; he hadn’t used that term in years. 

As he gathered up the debris from the packaging he noticed an envelope securely taped to the outside of the Styrofoam. It was in a familiar handwriting and as he untapped it his hands trembled a little. Sitting down again on the edge of the bed he tore open the letter and began to read.

My dearest Bill, Mate,

We are both sitting here writing this to you so we really hope it makes sense as we are both rather caught up in our own thoughts and are fighting over who says what. (Mate, that’s Cherie for you isn’t it, all proper still with her writing). Ignore him Bill, I do half the time… I am chuckling as I write that because I know that you will be too. 

You know how very much the three of us meeting was so very coincidental, well I am sure that you are not going to be surprised by what I am about to tell you…. (she never gets straight to the point does she, she never did and nothing has changed Mate). Just ignore him, I am getting to the point. We were down at the country estate – isn’t it wonderful, we now have it back after all these years and are bringing it back to its former glory…. (see I told you, she is just waffling Bill, she does it all the time), as I was saying, we were down in the country with the kids …. (Bill you should see them, Billy is the spitting image of you Mate, if I wasn’t there at his conception and things were different, I would be wondering, but seriously, I could not be happier or more proud of both of them and we owe it all to you).

Bill the very night that you had spoken to Sarah …. (we named her Sarah Caroline Compton – you don’t mind do you, we thought that it was kind of fitting and of course Billy is William Thomas Compton, how’s that then mate, we look on the kids like they are yours too). That same night we saw you speaking on behalf of the AVL and then Sarah told us that she had spoken to you, that you had ordered the painting, (well we put two and two together to come up with that one Mate). 

We can’t tell you how wonderful it was to see you on TV and how touched we were by what you spoke to Sarah about. Bill, there hasn’t been a day go by since you left that we haven’t thought or spoken of you. (We have been blessed Mate with each other and with the kids but nothing will ever take away the bond and the love that the three of us shared together. You saved me, you gave me my life, you gave me a true friendship and you gave me a wife and children. I owe you my, and our, entire happiness to you Mate). 

The three of us shared something very special, unique in fact and what you have given us can never be repaid but one day Bill, when you have finished being there for everyone else, we hope (and we pray Mate) that one day we can be together again and that in the mean time you too will find the same happiness that we have shared with each other, that you too will find the love of your life.

We will meet again one day of that I am sure and when we do, we will not be separated again by distance or time. My time is coming soon Bill, I will be joining my two beloved men and some day we will all walk together hand in hand and who knows, by then it may even be in the sun.

Until then, (we know that you must be busy Mate and have taken up far too much of your valuable time) until we are altogether once more, please know that you are never alone.  Where ever you go and whatever you do, whatever is happening in your existence, we travel your journey with you. You were my first vampire (and you were my true maker) and you are our everything. 

Always, all our eternal love,

Cherie and Tom

(PS Mate if you ever need us, if there is anything that we can ever do or if you just want to reach out and see loving faces, in those darkest of moments … our skpye name is CTheComptons1981, we will always be there for you).

Bill was still holding the letter in his hands when Jessica called up the stairs to him. ‘Bill the bloods are warmed, are you coming down?’ Snapping himself out of his reverie, he took a small key from his pocket and opened the bedside draw. Carefully folding the note and putting it back into the envelope, he looked at Cherie’s hand writing on the outside of it and smiled. As he was about to place it into the draw he saw a picture of Sookie peeping out from the rest of the contents. He smiled again for the first time in weeks. 

What was it that he had said to Sarah, something about loving someone and ‘do not ever think of them without being happy for their happiness.’ He nodded to himself as he gazed down at the picture before safely locking the letter away.

He walked downstairs to join Jessica on the couch. He was smiling, much to her relief, as he sat down and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. 

‘Have I told you how proud I am of you?’ He asked her. 

‘Have I told you today that you are my everything….’ 

 Finis 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The whole intention of this little story was to give some background as to why Bill was in London in the early nineteen eighties. We never really got an explanation for his being there when he met Nan Flannagan. I had not intended this to be anything other than a short story but sorry, I have been a little carried away with it. 
> 
> Although in this fic I am sure that Bill did love both Cherie and Tom deeply, he believed in the cause even more and whilst it was extremely hard to write of his leaving them both, it is my reflection on his character, he was being true to his type. It is a very Bill thing to do, to sacrifice his own happiness in an attempt to better the world for his kind, or that is how I have always seen him. 
> 
> While I realise that Cherie and Tom having a loving relationship may not be something that everyone is entirely happy about, I really feel that Bill would be. Deep down Bill’s compassion and love for the two of them would be more than rewarded by the thought that they had found true happiness and given them all something that none of them thought at all possible… a continuing Compton bloodline. 
> 
> After all, what more could any of them ask for. 
> 
> A heartfelt thanks to all who have read, continued to read and above all, have posted so many kind, generous and witty comments.
> 
> As Bill, Tom and Cherie would say… I am right chuffed. 
> 
> Braz


End file.
